The Remedy
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: The Pendant of Pharaoh leads a young man west. Yugi hopes the Water Sage can break the compulsion, but is dismayed when, instead, the mystic tells him he may be the Chosen One - the Hero of legend. A Mahaad's Magic Box story. Warning - AU
1. Chapter 1

Summary – The Pendant of Pharaoh leads a young man west. He hopes the Water Sage can break the compulsion, but is dismayed when, instead, the mystic tells him he may be the Chosen One – the Hero of legend. Yugi must confront the Three Kindly Lords and the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos to discover the truth. A Mahaad's Magic Box story.

Warnings – AU, slight hints of Puzzleshipping, character death. This story is the third in the Mahaad's Magic Box continuity, although it is not necessary to have read the other two stories (Rebellion, Respect) to follow the action in this story.

Disclaimer – Yu-Gi-Oh! is the work and property of Kazuki Takahashi. I claim no rights at all with my humble story based on his characters, and hope that it serves to show my appreciation for his awesome creativity.

**The Remedy**

**Prologue**

Crumbling. His world was crumbling. It was a strangely soundless, silent event. Time wrapped him in a cocoon of a horrifying moment, slowing itself to an inching crawl. The motion, caught by accident from the corner of his eye, at his direct attention became the harbinger of disaster. The building, the one he was walking in front of, was falling. Even as he shook off the paralysis of that realization, he knew he couldn't escape in time. Time tortured him with its teasing slowness, but he knew, caught in the slow motion of tardy time, he couldn't get away before great slabs of concrete and marble completed their tumble with an arrogant, lazy sort of grace to the ground below. The ground upon which he sprinted – or rather tried to – against the trapping tendrils of slowed-down time.

Pain! His world exploded into disjointed spikes of pain.

"YUGI!" Yami's voice seemed so far away. Why was Yami calling to him, anyway? Didn't Yami realize that he was...

Falling. His world rejected him, and he was falling. Blackness reached for him, either rushing up to envelop him, or patiently waiting for his inevitable fall into its embrace – he didn't know. Did it matter? Nothing mattered, as his consciousness flickered, faltered, and went out.

...crumble...

...PAIN...

...fall...

ever falling; slowly; swiftly; did it matter? What waited at the end of the fall was more pain; the smashing of his body into a thousand shards of agony. Would it hurt all at once? Or, would it build into a crescendo of pain? What sort of pain would it be when he splashed, like a human-shaped water balloon, against the ground? Would it be over mercifully – quickly, his blood rushing out in a surging tide, or would his last moments be ones of soul-killing agony as his heart pumped every last drop from his body beat by torturous beat?

Still falling.

Ever falling.

When would he hit? Waiting for death was...

**Part One**

**Chapter One – Enter the Hero**

He stretched and yawned. The predawn lightening of the sky woke him. Rising from the nest he'd made of his traveling cloak, he grabbed some of the small branches he had set to one side as he banked his fire last night. He shivered as he used one of the branches to poke the fire awake, adding the rest to fuel it.

"So, where are we off to, today?" he asked aloud, pulling a shining pendant, wrought of gold in the shape of an inverted pyramid, from its hiding place under his shirt. In response, one face of the pyramid glowed.

"West. Always west. Okay, you frustrating thing. You've been nothing but trouble since I got you!" he remonstrated. "You'll just have to wait a little though, while I wash, eat, and get ready for the day." He reached for his pack, pulled out a few things, and walked off through the trees toward where splashing water could be faintly heard.

As he gingerly splashed the cold water on his face, he reflected on the past week. The pendant had been handed down in his family for generations. On the occasion of his twenty-first birthday, just one week ago, it had become his to bear. For all the generations of his family, the Mutou family, the thing had been simply an ornate necklace, content to simply hang about one's neck on a chain, creating grief for no one. Yet, in him, it had instilled a magical sense of overwhelming wanderlust. The wise-woman of his home village had been unable to break the spell, finally suggesting two courses of action. He could either follow it, and figure out what the pyramid pendant wanted, or he could seek out the most powerful magic-weaver in the land, the Water Sage, and see if he could break the wanderlust spell. Since the pendant pulled him to the west, where the Water Sage was rumored to dwell, Yugi still wasn't certain which course he was following.

Returning to his small camp, he ate some totally unsatisfying travel food while he warmed up again next to the fire. As the sun finally poked over the horizon and began to fill the sky with the golden light of true dawn, he kicked out and extinguished his small fire, and gathered his things. Finally, he looked down to the glowing face of the pendant and acknowledged the relentless westward command. He got his bearings from the sun, tucked the thing back into the hiding place behind his shirt, and began to walk.

– – – – –

He thought about taking a break for a midday meal. He'd been hoping to find a village, hamlet, or even a modest hut where he might barter for food and possibly get directions. His pack was getting pretty light in the food department, and he still had no idea how far it might be to where the Water Sage was rumored to live. Everything had seemed a wonderful, grand adventure when he started, but he was weary of sleeping on the cold and bumpy ground; tired of the dry, crumbly, and tasteless travel cakes in his pack; and he sorely missed his family and friends. Tristan had wanted so much to come along, but then broken his ankle the day before Yugi left. Tristan's company would have been an entirely satisfying remedy against the loneliness.

The sky darkened so suddenly it was as if a giant hand had closed around the sun. Yugi looked up, and gasped. The sky, which had been a calm, clear blue only a moment before, was now a writhing mass of indigo clouds. Acid green lightning strobing through the clouds disturbingly illuminated what appeared to be monstrous faces screaming in torment. The powerful gusts of wind likewise carried what sounded like screaming, shouting, and cries for help just below the threshold of hearing.

_Chaos Storm!_

Yugi had heard of them, but, living as far east as he did, he'd never seen one, much less been trapped in one. His only hope was to escape the notice of one of the tormented cloud-faces, and hope the Chaos Storm blew over him without killing him – or driving him into madness. He sidled slowly to his right, toward a small stand of bushes clustered around the base of a tree, thinking to creep under them before he was spotted.

It was nerve-wracking to move so slowly when every fiber in his body and every instinct in his mind was to run, but he managed it. As he crouched under the bushes, his heartbeat began to slow. He hoped the Chaos Storm would pass over him before he cramped from trying to keep so still, to avoid notice – _la, la – just one of the bushes here, nothing to see – move along, now..._

"Hello, there!"

Yugi's heart thudded. Someone was speaking to him? Had the Chaos Storm passed, then? Was it someone traveling on the same road, who had weathered the Chaos Storm as he had? He listened carefully. No, the almost-heard screams and cries were still faintly noticeable.

"Shhh!" Yugi whispered urgently. "It's a Chaos Storm!" He shifted as much as he could under his concealing bush, trying to make room. "Hurry, and climb under here before you are seen! If the clouds see you, you will be – will be eaten!" It was too hard to try to describe what happened to those taken by Chaos Storms with any sort of coherent urgency. Not that he really knew, anyway, he'd just heard the rumors.

"I'm touched by your concern, but I'd hardly fit."

Yugi dared to move enough to look up at that. He moaned and tried to will himself to melt into the ground. Peering down at him with rapt interest was a great triangular head. Enormous indigo horns ringed with bands of red curled down alongside that head from the crown of the massive beast. As his gaze took in more of the being looking at him, he realized it was a great dragon. Scales of inky indigo occasionally alternated with thin stripes of a muddy sort of red all along its length. Yugi's frantic gaze took in that it was crouched back on its hindquarters, and the very end of its tail was thrashing, very much like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse. He moaned, again. This was... This was....

"The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos," the dragon supplied pleasantly enough. "Nice to meet you."

Yugi moaned again.

"Oh, that is your name? I thought you might have been reacting to the sight of me, as so many mortals do. It's nice to meet you, Guhurnghuh. I do hope I pronounced that correctly?"

"Yu-gi. My name is..." Yugi gulped. "Yugi."

"That is a far more suitable name that Guhurnghuh. Easier to pronounce correctly, too."

"You...? I...? Er...?"

"Articulation does not appear to be one of your strengths, my delicious morsel of a friend. No matter. You will perhaps hone that particular skill before we meet again."

Yugi stared up at the terrifying dragon. It licked its chops at him. He froze.

"While it is very tempting to just devour you now, you haven't seasoned enough for my tastes, yet. Really, all I intend is to introduce myself – this time. I will be seeing you again, very soon, little Yugi!"

The dragon gathered its strength beneath its haunches, brought its wings down in a powerful sweep that knocked Yugi up against the tree and uprooted the bushes he was still trying to hide under, and sprang skyward. The indigo clouds obligingly opened a path to the untainted sky and followed their master, gibbering at Yugi all the while. Between one heartbeat and the next, the sky went back to being clear and beautiful. There was no sight of the Chaos Dragon. If not for the bruised feeling along his back, and the destroyed bushes, Yugi would have thought he dreamt the entire thing.

– – – – –

"You cannot enter."

The pronouncement was given in a flat, no-nonsense sort of voice. Backing it up, in case Yugi didn't care to heed the warning, was the threat of steel. The sword was not pointed at him, as the tip was aimed at the ground, but the bared length of the blade was serious enough – as was the stalwart expression in the eyes of the elven warrior who held it.

"We wish no harm to befall you, but you are not permitted to enter. Strangers are not welcome, especially strangers who trail after a Chaos Storm. Be on your way."

Yugi's shoulders slumped. He'd hoped for a warm meal, soft bed, and conversation – normal conversation, to banish the cold serpent of fear that still coiled tightly around his heart. His strange encounter with the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos had unsettled him deeply. He felt very small and alone, and desperately wanted to feel grounded – connected – to others, again.

"Please... You can see for yourself that I'm harmless. I don't even bear a weapon!" Yugi protested faintly. The tip of the sword quivered, but remained pointing without overt threat at the ground.

"It is the law of our town. Strangers are not welcome." Eyes the color of spring-green leaves met Yugi's beseeching gaze. "It is not _my_ choice," the warrior added faintly.

"Please..."

The blade quivered again, as if the elven swordsman wished his actions could follow a different path. The point lifted from the ground and was now aimed directly at Yugi. The warrior stepped toward Yugi, his every gesture threatening yet graceful.

"You are not permitted to enter!" he growled menacingly, before dropping his voice to a soft, hurried whisper. "Go, to the west of town. There is a glade where royal-berries grow. Eat your fill, and rest, until moonrise. My sister will meet you then."

Yugi blinked, suddenly realizing that the warrior must be under observation to act in so conflicted a manner. He didn't want to endanger anyone. He used a depressed, defeated slump of his shoulders to hide his tiny nod of comprehension to the kind warrior. He made certain to travel back the way he'd come, from the east, dragging his steps and casting longing glances at the quiet, orderly town as he slowly walked from sight. He continued in this way for nearly an hour, even after he entered the concealment of the woods. He didn't want anything bad to happen to the guard who'd offered a glimmer of understanding and hope, despite his duties.

It was nearly two hours later before he found the clearing the elf had told him about. The royal purple of the berries weighing down the low, ground creeping vines was unmistakable. Yugi had read about them, but never tasted them before. He wondered idly if he'd been given false information, that they were good to eat, but, trusting in the sincerity he'd seen in the elven warrior's eyes, Yugi dared to try them.

The berries were warm from the sunlight pouring down from the afternoon sky, but somehow refreshingly cool inside when he bit into them. The flavor, unlike anything he'd tasted before, wound sweet and tart together in an unexpected combination. He noticed that some of the berries were more blue in color, and harder than the ripe purple ones. He picked some of those, thinking they might ripen off the vine and become edible in the next few days. Not only did he not like travel-cakes, much, but they were almost gone. He'd hoped to be able to replenish his travel food in the town that had turned him away.

Hoping that he wouldn't waken to a curious dragon peering down at him, Yugi found a smooth patch of soft grass, curled up in his cloak, and fell asleep.

"Gather the Lords," a voice said.

"Huh? What?" Yugi struggled to sit up. He'd gotten tangled in his cloak. A few bleary blinks later he realized he must have dreamed the command. He was alone.

– – – – –

"Good even-time," a soft voice woke him. Yugi blinked, his mind racing to help him orient himself again. It was night, and silver light flooded the glade. Sitting serenely on the ground several feet away from him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her long, light-colored hair gleamed silver in the moonlight. He couldn't make out the color of her eyes in that mystical light, but he was able to read the kindness in them.

"I am Vialla, young traveler. My brother, Celedor, apologizes that he had to bar you from entering the town. He asked me to meet with you here, and to offer you what aid we may." Her voice was gentle.

"I..." Yugi scrambled to his feet, wishing to show his respect for the beautiful elven maid. The pendant slipped from its place of concealment behind his tunic. Each side flashed in turn as it faced west until Yugi brought his hand up to stop its twirling.

"The Pendant of Pharaoh!" Vialla gasped. Her gaze swifted into Yugi's face. Her eyes narrowed slightly and the slightest frown of concentration formed upon her brow. After a long moment, her expression cleared, and she gained her feet in a single motion that defined the word 'grace'. Before Yugi could react, she bowed before him.

"Chosen One, what may I, a lowly maid, do to aid you?"

"Chosen One...?"

"Yes. You are the Chosen One of legend. We have waited for you for so long the details have been lost, even to my long-lived race of people, but we know the Chosen One will accomplish great and wonderful things. I can see why fate has chosen you to fulfill the legend, now that I know to look. Your spirit is bright and strong."

"What am I supposed to do?" Yugi asked.

Her long hair rippled as she shook her head. "None of us knows. The legend is so old that the only details left are the description and name of that pendant, the certainty that the one who wears it is the Chosen One – a hero, and that the Hero's adventure truly begins west of here, where the Water Sage dwells."

"I've been traveling west hoping to find him, so that I can break the hold this pendant has on me." Yugi's hand, despite his words, closed carefully around the pendant.

"I don't think even the Water Sage has that power," Vialla noted softly. Yugi bowed his head in a sort of despair. He missed his family, his friends, his home. He had no illusions about himself – he was no hero!

"I just want to go home."

Vialla nodded. "All of us do. But, I wonder, do any of us truly know where our home is? The home you had, did it not seem as if it were suddenly too small a world for you when you first put on the pendant? You are destined for great things – surely your home is as grand as your destiny." Vialla gave him another of her gently searching gazes. "For now, you are soul-weary and alone. I regret that my brother or I are not permitted to accompany you, and ease the solitude of your path, but we are able to help by providing you with supplies for the next part of your journey."

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Did I mention this was an AU? It's not just a departure from the normal continuity of the show, it's a departure from that universe altogether! I haven't posted anything in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. Hopefully my new story will entertain you.

Next chapter teaser – The Water Sage

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – The Water Sage**

Yugi's heart was lighter as he traveled forth the next day. Not only had he slept deeply and well in the royal-berry glade but he had food, directions, and warm hugs from Vialla. Celedor had nodded his head gravely at Yugi instead, but Yugi clearly felt the regard of the elven warrior in the simple gesture.

Following their directions had been easy. The Water Sage's pool was not too far from their town – several hours away on foot. Yugi reached it a few hours after taking a break for his midday meal.

The stillness and quiet somehow held the holy air of a sacred place. Yugi wondered at his fancy, reasoning that it must have been sparked by the columns that marched in two ordered rows from the shore down into the water, where they spread to define a circular shape in the clear, blue pool. The shell-white columns soared up and supported – nothing. The illusion was that they supported the airy substance of the sky, somehow creating a dome of ether over the primal water of the pool. The effect was powerful and the profound concept of "as above, here below" was simply displayed in how the water perfectly mirrored the captured sky.

Awestruck at the simple beauty of the place, it took Yugi a few minutes to notice the small structure next to the still margin of the pool. Supported in an elegant framework of subtly curved and bleached driftwood, a long, thin object of sparkling green, decorated with gems of a deep purple hue, hung. Yugi blinked at it for a moment before recognizing it as a sort of bell. What took him that moment was that the round, dark green clapper of the bell was nested in a slightly larger cone-shaped clapper of a lighter green tone, which was itself nested in a slightly larger clapper, which was nested in a larger bell one final time. Hoping it was the right thing to do, Yugi reached out, and decisively pushed the bell into a swing.

A clear, beautiful tone rang out, to be added to nearly immediately by a second, no less lovely tone, and finally finished with a third tone as the curiously constructed bell sounded the chord it was designed to play. So entranced was Yugi by the ringing, liquid notes that he failed to notice that the surface of the pool was no longer smooth. Ripples raced toward the shore, bearing something in their wake.

"You rang?" a warm, rich voice, filled with gentle amusement brought Yugi out of his reverie inspired by the chord of the summoning bell. Despite the softness of the voice, Yugi jumped and whirled. A man stood waist-deep in the water. He appeared to be somehow garbed in water, as folds of it flowed and draped from his shoulders in what appeared to be a cloak. Gold gleamed through the folds of the water at his biceps and wrists. The long white hair streaming down the man's back and white whiskers flowing into a beard on his face gave him an air of ancient gravity. Seeking to center his racing thoughts against all these strange and detailed perceptions, Yugi glanced into the man's eyes.

Their clear blue was deeper than that of the water, and almost seemed to hold a shadowed sort of sorrow.

"I – I..." Yugi stammered.

The man's eyes widened in surprise.

"You've finally come, young one. I have waited patiently for this day, for thousands of years," the man in the water whispered.

"Are you the Water Sage? If so, I was told to find you," Yugi asked.

"I am the Water Sage. And, you are the Chosen One."

"Chosen? What was I chosen for?"

"To save us. You will be the one to release three mighty beings and save us from the capricious claws of Chaos. But, in order to do so, you need to enlist the help of the three Kindly Lords."

"That doesn't sound too hard."

The Water Sage chuckled. "Don't let the name fool you. They are called 'Kindly' only because they guard the people from the Chaos Lord. With their power and frightful minions they are, in a way, merely the lesser of the evils. Still, I think you might be able to sway them to help you."

Yugi blinked at the man in the water, trying to understand the whirlwind of destiny that had somehow caught him up. "Why me?" he whispered. "I'm not strong, or clever, or wise..."

"Perhaps not. Perhaps so. But, you were chosen because you have great heart. Even in this brief meeting, I can sense it shining within you. Your heart inspires me to help you."

Yugi chanced to look in the Water Sage's eyes again, reading the sincerity of the man's words in his expression. He was shocked to discover respect there, too.

"Come. Let's get you prepared properly for the adventure that destiny has placed upon you. Follow me."

The Water Sage swam deeper into the water toward the center of the pool. Sighing that his clothes and gear were going to get wet and hoping that it wouldn't ruin his leather boots, Yugi followed until it became obvious he would have to swim if he continued. Just as he wondered how he'd manage while wearing his travel pack, the Water Sage circled back toward him.

"Forgive an old merman that he forgot you can't breathe water," the Water Sage muttered as his hands inscribed mystical patterns in the air before coming to rest on Yugi's shoulders. "Now, you can. Follow."

Yugi was entranced by the quiet peacefulness of the pool as he walked along the bottom. The Water Sage swam ahead, to show the way, but not so fast that Yugi had to hurry to follow him. In the center of the pool a structure of some kind shimmered with more than the sunlight dappling through the water above. He followed the Water Sage through an archway and was surprised to see what appeared to be a stone dock. The Water Sage motioned Yugi toward the steps leading from the water to the top of the dock, before pulling himself out of the water. A purple shimmer of magic, partially obscured by robes made of water, turned the Water Sage's tail into a pair of legs. Yugi stared in open-mouthed wonder.

"What? Oh, it's only a small magic. There are wonders more marvelous than this to reveal to you!" The Water Sage lifted an ornate robe from a hook set in the wall and shrugged his shoulders into the sleeves. As he belted the robe about his waist, the magical water garment he'd worn in the pool splashed to the floor. It drained along runnels in the floor. "You can leave your travel gear here," the Water Sage offered. "It will be safe. You might," the man's eyes twinkled at Yugi, "consider getting out the water yourself."

"Oh!" Only then did Yugi realize he still stood in the water. As he walked up the stone steps to the floor, he realized the water remained behind in the pool. He was completely dry.

"Can't have you dripping all over my floors, now can I?" the Water Sage winked at him. "I drip on them enough."

Yugi shucked out of his pack and hung it on a hook in the wall. His travel cloak followed.

"Are you hungry? Never mind. Young men are always hungry. Follow me!"

Yugi watched everything in a sort of bemusement as the Water Sage puttered about a small, but complete, kitchen preparing a meal for them. While he worked, he asked Yugi how Vialla and Celedor were, since he knew Yugi had encountered them, and they were friends. Destiny, or the matter of the Hero, wasn't mentioned at all, for which Yugi was grateful. After seeing to his meal, the Water Sage escorted Yugi to a most curious chamber where a soft mass that appeared very much like dry seaweed in the middle of a wooden frame on the floor was obviously a bed. The walls of the chamber were curved and thin, for the shifting, dappled pattern flowing across them had to be light from above reaching through the water over their heads.

"The guest suite."

"Water Sage, I came here to see if you could help me break the curse this pendant has on me." Yugi fished the pendant out from his jerkin. "Your hospitality has been amazing, and I thank you for it, but – I really just want to get home."

The Water Sage nodded. "I understand, young one. But, it's night. That light playing on the outer shell of my home is moonlight, not sunlight. You've journeyed far to get here. Rest – sleep if you can, and I will research to find out what I can about that pendant of yours. May I take a closer look at it?"

Yugi made as if to slip the chain over his neck to hand it to the Water Sage. "No, young one. Merely hold it out for me. Since it is so tightly attuned to you, I would take an injury if I were to touch it."

Yugi did as he was bade, turning the pendant in his hands to permit the Water Sage to see the images on all four sides, as well as the top.

"Strange." Yugi peered down at the pendant as he turned it in his hands. "One side, whichever side faced west, has been lit since I left home. And..." He shook his head. "I'm not feeling the same pull..."

The Water Sage smiled faintly. "Perhaps that is because you have made it to where the pendant was leading you."

"Oh! Does this mean – the curse, or whatever it was that caused me to wander – is broken?"

"Time will tell. For now, sleep. I should have some answers for you in the morning."

– – – – –

Yugi woke gently the next day, completely refreshed by his sleep in the strange seaweed bed. He wondered why as he bathed and got ready for whatever this day would bring. He reasoned it might be because he was 'inside' as opposed to sleeping under the stars – even though this inside was stranger than any he'd seen before. When he returned to the main room after his bath, he discovered his traveling clothes had been cleaned, neatly folded, and left on the edge of the bed. The Water Sage might be one of the oddest people he'd met, but he certainly was thoughtful.

"Good morning, young one."

Yugi turned toward the door he'd left open on purpose. He didn't want to wander around the Water Sage's home uninvited, but he suspected the Water Sage would be too polite to enter, or perhaps even knock on the door to his room. It would be silly to waste too much time being overly polite to each other – so he left the door open as a way to show he was ready to leave the suite.

"Follow me. I can tell you what I've found over breakfast."

Yugi listened with growing dismay as the Water Sage explained that the pendant has a formal name – the Pendant of Pharaoh. It was an ancient artifact whose true purpose was unknown, but it had, through the millennia, inspired people to grand and heroic works. The Water Sage wondered if the Pendant perhaps contained the soul and will of an unnamed ruler, for it seemed to be solicitous toward the people of the land, inspiring a Hero whenever something too powerful threatened too many. He related some of the stories of the Pendant of Pharaoh's past activities throughout history. The Water Sage was sure the Pendant had most certainly chosen him.

Yugi shook his head in disbelief that he was now caught up as they were in the bonds of history-changing destiny. "Why me?!"

The Water Sage smiled a bit sadly. "Why any of us?" The merman regarded Yugi with a hooded gaze for a very long moment. Finally, he stood, and gestured for Yugi to follow him. As they walked through the curious dwelling, Yugi noticed it was spiraled, like a shell. The Water Sage led him through the winding corridors, and the maze-like rooms that allowed access further and deeper into the shell's spiral. Finally, they arrived at the room that was at the center of it all. Much like the pool outside, the center of the Water Sage's shell-home held the deep aura of a mystical and sacred peace. Yugi paused naturally at the archway while the Water Sage descended a stairway and entered the small chamber. As he did so, a subtle, purple flash of magic turned his legs into his merman's tail again. Only then did Yugi realize this center chamber was completely filled with water. The only dry area was the doorway he stood in.

Niches and shelves along the walls held vials of different colored liquids and boxes of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Crucibles and alembics the likes of which he'd seen in the wise-woman's house were also situated on a long and deep shelf that had to serve as the worktable in this curious room. The Water Sage swam with decisive assurance across the room to the side that was shadowed from the soft light filtering in from above.

"Ah, here. I need to discern if you are the true hero of legend. Only the Hero may claim the Sage's Stone, for it is a powerful and proud artifact. Those unworthy of its power are turned to dust at its merest touch." The Water Sage reached up to a recessed shelf and pulled down a box. Two flicks of his tail and he was back in front of Yugi, reverently bearing the golden thing in his hands. Strange runes, the likes of which Yugi had never seen, wrapped so sinuously across the surface it almost seemed as if they actually writhed. The Water Sage lifted the lid of the golden box to reveal a puddle of silver-shot black. He reached in and carefully moved the edges aside, enabling Yugi to see the black for what it was, a silken cloth. Once it had been opened, the silk revealed a teardrop-shaped pendant, a couple inches long, of the warmest and most inviting purple hue Yugi had ever seen. Shadows rippled under the surface of the pendant, swirling gently in the gem's depths.

"Ohhhh!" Yugi breathed, reaching toward the purple pendant without quite realizing what he was doing. His fingers itched to touch the smooth surface and he longed to gaze deeply into the swirling shadows. Remembering his manners just in time, Yugi snatched his eager hand back. "May I – touch it?"

The Water Sage smiled wryly at him. "It doesn't repulse you? You aren't struck by how cold and evil shadows swim inside the gem?"

Yugi shook his head vehemently. "No! The shadows in the stone aren't cold, or evil. Can't you see? They are – soft and warm. Like a comforting hug during a thunderstorm, or a gentle voice that wakes one from a nightmare."

"Indeed," the Water Sage replied. He stood patiently on his tail, holding the golden box with its treasure of black silk nestling the purple pendant. The invitation was there for Yugi to touch the Sage's Stone – if he dared.

Yugi didn't think the pendant would hurt him, no matter what the legends said. He wasn't sure he was a hero, but it was almost as if the Sage's Stone was whispering directly to his heart, telling him that it had been waiting, patiently, all these years, for him.

His heart hammered so loudly in the hushed room Yugi thought the Water Sage must certainly hear each heartbeat, too. Yugi reached forward again. Suddenly shy, his fingertips brushed against the hem of the silk. _It could be a trap. A lure, to tempt me into touching it and dying,_ Yugi told himself. Still, he didn't believe that to be true. Somehow, it seemed – right – for him to touch the pendant. In his deepest heart, he didn't think it would hurt him, even though he was sure he wasn't the hero of legend. Without thinking, his hand crept along the silken black folds of cloth and finally dared to touch the perilous stone.

"It's warm." Yugi's voice was soft. "It's not cool, like a normal gemstone."

"And you have touched it, yet live. Claim the Sage's Stone, Hero Yugi. The artifact, and all its power, is yours to command," the Water Sage suggested.

Yugi picked up the strangely warm gem and spent a long moment indulging in watching the shadows swirl within the stone. He noticed a rhythm, almost like a pulse in how the shadows moved, a conviction that was eerily reinforced as he held the stone. "It – it has a heartbeat." Yugi whispered in a barely audible voice.

"A noble, guardian heart, yes," the Water Sage agreed, taking the pendant from Yugi's hands, deftly stringing it onto a cord of woven black silk, and threading the cord around Yugi's neck. Yugi's hand crept up to touch the comforting warmth of the gemstone where it now lay over his heart. It took only a moment for his heartbeat and that of the Sage's Stone to align and become one. "Now the Sage's Stone – ah, it is no longer mine to guard for you..." The Water Sage cupped his chin and pondered for a moment. "As it has joined with the rhythm of your heart, it should have a new name. The Hero's Heartstone has accepted you. It is now able to guard you and help you on your journeys, Hero."

A flash of light caught Yugi's eye. He looked down, fearing what he would see. He sighed when he realized one side of the golden pendant glowed, again.

Gentle fingers lifted his chin until his gaze met that of the Water Sage. "Do not think of it as a curse, young one. Consider the Pendant of Pharaoh your guide. A rather insistent guide, yes, but I am certain it will lead you truly down the hero's path."

"I'm not..." Yugi sighed again. He couldn't think of himself as a hero. If not for the Water Sage's help... "I wish you could come with me."

The Water Sage was not without regret as he lowered his eyes and shook his head. "I can only transform my tail into legs here, inside my home. A merman would be far too great a burden on you during your travels. Besides, there is nothing I can give you, nothing I can do for you, and no knowledge I can impart to you greater than what you, yourself, already hold here." The Water Sage moved the Heartstone to one side and tapped Yugi lightly over his heart. "Your heart will guide your actions truly, your Pendant will guide your steps accurately, and your Heartstone will protect you faithfully – far better than anything this old merman could manage."

Yugi turned the Pendant on its chain, causing the glow to dance from one side to the next. "Where is it pointing now?"

"I believe it's toward the Realm of Shadows, where the Lord of Blood and Shadows, and the mightiest of the three Kindly Lords, dwells. If you can enlist his aid, the other two lords will most likely help."

"'Gather the lords'," Yugi murmured.

"Yes, I guess that is what you are doing. What a succinct way to put it."

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Yugi was a bit out of his element in this chapter, but the Water Sage helped him find his grounding. *unrepentant grin* I bet everyone can guess who the Lord of Blood and Shadows is.

Next chapter teaser – The Purple Knight

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – The Purple Knight  
**

**  
**"Stop! You have business with my Lord Yami?"

Yugi looked up to see an impressively intimidating knight, fully nine feet tall and garbed in purple armor, striding toward him. He swallowed hard and touched his Hero's Heartstone nervously. As if to reassure him, the stone throbbed warmly under his fingers once.

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry, I don't have an appointment..." Yugi craned his neck back to try to catch a glimpse of the knight's eyes through the slits in the helmet's visor. Purple fire in the shape of eyes met his gaze instead. Startled, Yugi backed away.

"_I'm doomed!" _he thought. "_There's no way I can fight this – whatever it is – and no way I can outrun it!_"

"Peace. I've no reason to attack those who seek not to threaten my lord," the knight reassured in a low voice. "Climbing up to the castle gate is arduous even for those who have long strides. You might want to rest before climbing yon hill."

The knight pointed toward where the castle loomed on top of a steep, rocky, forbidding hill. Yugi sighed. To him, with his short stature, such a hill was more like a mountain. The sun was westering already. There was no way he'd make it up to the safety of the castle tonight.

"Come. There is a place you can rest this night. It isn't much, but you will be able to sleep in safety." The knight turned and began picking his way around the boulders strewn haphazardly about. Yugi followed. He was surprised when the knight led him to a very rough shack set in the side of the hill where it curved around in a semi-circle to face the main bulk of the hill. One side was completely exposed to the elements, as it had no wall. Once Yugi had entered, he grasped the reason. The knight had an unobstructed view of the castle. Yugi wondered how the knight could stand it, as there was nothing – no place to sit, no place for a fire, no place even to curl up in a blanket and try to sleep, since the floor was covered in dirt and pebbles.

"Uh...?" Yugi wondered if he would upset the knight if he opted to try to get back to the nearest town, a few miles from the base of the hill, before full night.

"Back here." The knight touched the back wall and it swayed. Yugi only then noticed the wall-hanging that had been cunningly designed to look like the rock wall that formed the back of the cave.

"It's a small cave. It's not much, but it has a hearth and a cot in the alcove where you can sleep. Are you cold?"

Yugi wondered at the question, as it was not quite bitterly cold, but certainly biting enough to be noticeable. "Aren't you?" he asked.

"No. I feel neither heat nor cold, so I've learned to ask whenever visitors stay. I will gather wood for you. Please, enter, and make yourself at home." With that, the massive purple knight turned and sped off toward the woods just a few yards from the base of the hill.

Yugi soon found himself seated next to a warm little fire in the back of the cave. At his insistence, the Purple Knight stayed close enough to talk to. It didn't escape Yugi's notice that the Knight never let the approach to the castle on the hill out of his direct sight for more than mere moments at a time.

"You guard the path to the castle?" Yugi asked.

"The Citadel of Shadows – yes. It is the only way I am permitted to serve my lord Yami, now." Profound sorrow seemed to lace the words.

"What–what is he like?" Yugi ventured. The Purple Knight turned from gazing at the Citadel and fixed Yugi with the eerie eldritch glow of his 'eyes'.

"The power of shadows is subtle. My lord wields this power with such consummate skill that he is the most powerful of the Three Kindly Lords."

Yugi turned that statement over in his mind for a moment, then realized the knight hadn't really answered his question. Under his breath he asked again, "Yeah, but what is he _like_?"

The Purple Knight went very still. "Yami is like Yami. Perhaps he will once again be as he was before..." The knight shook his helmeted head. "Forgive me, I ramble. I am certain my lord Yami will see you tomorrow. You will be able to judge for yourself what he is 'like'."

Yugi opted to pin the curtain concealing the room in the back of the cave open, so he could watch his strange host over the next few hours. The Purple Knight was willing to do whatever he could to ensure Yugi's comfort. It was not until Yugi assured him he was warm enough, he had enough food for the evening, he had enough to drink, and so on – assured him several times, actually – that the knight settled down. That is, for a certain strangely active value of 'settled'.

He never stopped watching the citadel, and the pass leading up to the citadel's gates. He was polite and responded to Yugi's questions, but he never took his weird, glowing gaze from the citadel. In a way, this made things easier for Yugi.

It started simply: Yugi asked how the back of the cave didn't fill with smoke from his little fire. The knight responded that he had reamed out a chimney of sorts through the roof of the cave. That got Yugi to wondering about the knight again, that he didn't feel cold, eat anything, and evidently was going to watch the citadel the entire night.

"Don't you sleep?" Yugi blurted out. He felt bad that he was using the only bit of furniture in the place, sitting on a small wooden cot, while the knight stood.

"I have no need of sleep," the knight replied softly.

"So, you're going to watch the castle all ...?" Yugi's voice petered out.

"All night? Yes."

"Why?"

"It is my duty. I am my lord Yami's Guardian Knight." A soft and subtle dismissal of sorts laced the words. Yugi had the feeling the Purple Knight didn't want to answer any more questions. An awkward silence descended upon them.

"Though I do not sleep, sometimes my – consciousness grows weary. Watching the citadel through the quiet hours of the night seems easier than during the day. Though I still guard, the time seems to flow more swiftly, until the sun rises again. Sleep, Yugi. As I guard the citadel, I also guard you. I will be – better company – on the morrow."

"I am sorry that my curiosity..." Yugi began.

"Don't be. Your curiosity is understandable. I do not wish for you to have wrong ideas about my lord Yami before you meet him, though, that is wrong ideas sparked from my story. You should meet him, and judge what sort of person he is, for yourself. Until then, you must be weary from your travels."

Yugi _was_ tired. The knight was right. He shouldn't worry about Lord Yami until he met him. There seemed to be a story between the Lord of Shadows and his Guardian Knight, but it wasn't Yugi's place to pry into it.

"Thank you," Yugi said. "I–I will go to sleep now."

The Purple Knight turned and regarded him for a long moment. "I will guard you as you sleep, and accompany you safely to the Citadel of Shadows tomorrow. Sleep well, and pleasant dreams."

– – – – –

Yugi dreamed of fire, ice, and shadows. He dreamed of dragons, swords, warriors garbed in armor led by powerful warlords fighting against monsters the likes of which he'd never seen or imagined before. Throughout his dream a voice wove through sometimes seeming to correspond with the images flashing before his sleeping mind's eye, other times completely at odds with those images. "Gather the lords", "...swords...", "...pain...", "...might...", "...dragons..." Yugi tossed fretfully in his sleep until a gentle touch on his shoulder woke him.

In his overwhelming yet half-asleep need for comfort, he reached out and grabbed tight. After only a moment the touch on his shoulder became a solid, reassuring embrace. It didn't matter that the embrace was of cold, unyielding metal. It was the warmth of the intent of the touch that comforted Yugi from his nightmare and supported him while he mastered his panicky night terrors.

"It hasn't been this bad before," Yugi whispered.

"You are at the foot of the Citadel of Shadows. The power of shadows is strongest here. What are nightmares other than shaped shadows sent to torment the mind?" As the knight replied he pulled back, sensing that Yugi had regained some control over his emotions. Only then did Yugi realize the towering knight had knelt by the side of his bed.

"Lord Yami?" Yugi asked. His eyes widened as he realized he was accusing the Lord of Shadows in front of that same lord's self-professed guardian.

"I doubt my lord Yami even knows about you, yet. While nightmare sendings are certainly well within his power, I do not believe this is his doing. It is not his way."

Yugi sighed. He didn't believe it either. If anything, he thought it must be the Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, but he wasn't going to let himself ponder that tonight. The power of his nightmare, even broken, was too immediate for him to think about the source while it was still full-dark outside. He turned over with the intention of settling more comfortably toward sleep. The Purple Knight gasped, and reached a trembling gauntlet toward him.

"Why would you need – my poor attempt at guarding – when you bear this about your neck?!"

It was not the geas-cursed Pendant the knight pointed toward, but the softly glowing Hero's Heartstone.

"I–I..."

"Ah. You have not yet properly bonded with it, yet. Aligned, yes, but a full bonding, not yet."

Yugi reached down and lifted the purple stone in the palm of his hand. As always, the warmth of the stone offered comfort. The warmth of the object seemed familiar, somehow, almost like the warmth behind the cool touch of the Guardian Knight's armor...

"That makes sense," the purple knight said. "We are both guardians, after all." Yugi hadn't realized he'd voiced his observation aloud. "But, the Sage's Stone is a far more capable guardian than I. Once you have bonded completely with it, no force of darkness can prevail against you. Not even nightmares."

"I don't know anything about this, except that the Water Sage was guarding it. He said only the – the Hero of legend could claim it." The Purple Knight nodded and Yugi went on. "Even though he warned me that I could be destroyed by touching it, if I wasn't the Hero, I couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The Water Sage changed the name to the Hero's Heartstone when I – claimed it. It feels warm, and has a heartbeat. Aside from that, I don't know anything. Do you know anything about this stone?"

"'Hero's Heartstone', huh? It's a good name for it. No one knows much about it, except that it is destined to help the Hero. What powers it might hold, or what abilities it might impart, no one knows. I can sense that it is a guardian, much more powerful than me. Once you have bonded with it, such things as nightmare sendings will not trouble you. Aside from that, I can not tell you anything. It is for you to discover what the Hero's Heartstone can do for you – Hero."

Yugi looked up, startled, at the accolade. The Purple Guardian's fearsome and impassive helmet met his gaze. The disconcerting purple glow of the knight's 'eyes' hadn't changed at all, and yet Yugi felt as though the knight was somehow smiling down at him. To cover the blush he could feel creeping up his neck, he turned toward the wall once more. He thought he was only breaking the awkward moment by feigning a need for sleep, but the weariness overtaking him made the action truthful.

"Good night, Purple Knight," he mumbled.

"Good night, Her—Yugi."

– – – – –

Yikes! The Purple Knight is kinda scary! Perhaps not quite what everyone was expecting.

Next chapter teaser – The Lord of Blood and Shadows

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four – The Lord of Blood and Shadows**

Yugi shivered as he looked up at the Citadel of Shadows. Here, at the base of the hill, the structure seemed to loom from impossibly far away and cast a pall of shadows even over the sunlit morning.

"It's mostly atmosphere to keep the casual thrill-seekers away," the Purple Knight offered. Yugi thought that the presence of Yami's guardian at the base of the hill would do that, but didn't state his observation aloud. Climbing the steep hill that was doing a quite credible imitation of a mountain to Yugi's way of looking at it, left him too breathless to continue any sort of conversation with the fearsome-appearing knight.

"What possesses you to bring such an urchin to my door, Guardian?" the man lounging in the deep shadows of the gate demanded in a low growl as Yugi and his guide approached. Yugi started when he noticed the glow of evil, red eyes.

"My lord Yami," the Purple Knight dropped into a graceful obeisance.

"You know better than to approach the castle. What is so special that you would risk displeasing me?" Lord Yami stepped partially out of the shadows obscuring him. Yugi was relieved to notice that his eerie red eyes glowed only faintly in the light. Outlandish red hair, the color of partially-dried blood, fell to the lord's shoulders. Gleaming strands of blond hair framed his face, drawing Yugi's attention back into those mesmerizing red eyes. Evidently aware of his regard, the lord smiled, revealing the tips of what had to be fangs at the corners of his mouth. Yugi somehow didn't fall back the step he so desperately wanted to. The Water Sage told him he needed this lord's help and the Purple Knight sworn to his service had treated him well, so...

"At least he's not a coward," Lord Yami murmured. "Let me see what he is made of." A hand as pale as death reached toward Yugi.

"There is no need to test him. The Water Sage..." The knight started in alarm, shifting as if to protect Yugi from his lord.

"You know better than to mention that one in my presence! After what happened, I've no need to hear of him, or his wild ideas, ever again!" Lord Yami exploded.

"My apologies, my lord," the knight lowered his helmet in contrition.

"You best leave before I banish you again," Lord Yami stated in a low, dangerous tone.

"As you wish, my lord." The Purple Knight bowed formally to Lord Yami again, received a curt, acknowledging nod, then turned and placed one gauntlet lightly upon Yugi's shoulder. He leaned down to speak softly. "He seems harsh, my lord does, but his heart is true. He'd never harm..."

"Begone!" Lord Yami roared out. Casting what appeared to be a sorrowful look his lord's way, though his visor didn't change, the knight bowed his head accepting that he had upset his volatile lord. He didn't resist as the shadows flowed around him, lifted him up, and flung him down the hill.

"Insufferable fool of a Guardian Knight!" Lord Yami grated. "Now, as for you, _un_welcome guest, I will deem if you are worthy of entering my castle."

He stepped fully from the shadows, though they clung to him as if unwilling to ever let him stand fully in the light. White lace spilled from an elaborate tie around his neck. The black coat he wore could have been crafted of shadows, it appeared so dark. The same eldritch fabric encased his legs so tightly they appeared to be nothing more than a second, shadowy skin. Though the lining of the nearly floor-length cloak he wore was the same shade of red as the lord's eyes, Yugi could've sworn it writhed in time with the shadows that he was rapidly coming to suspect were alive.

"I am Yami, Lord of Blood and Shadows, and the most powerful of the Three Lords guarding this land. In order to be worthy to enter my citadel, you must show me what shadows, if any, lurk in your blood." Captivated by the glow that suddenly sparked in the lord's eyes, Yugi found he couldn't move. That death-pale hand extended again. In the painful, terror-inducing slowness of a nightmare, Yugi noticed how the lord's fingernails had each been shaped into a sharp, pointed claw. Belying the menace of the hand, delicate frills of pure white lace spilled from the cuff of his shadow-black coat.

The touch that finally landed on his cheek was warm, not clammy-cold as he had been expecting. Fearful, but curious, Yugi glanced up, trying to read the lord's soul in his startling eyes.

"Meeting my gaze, eh?" Yami whispered, leaning in toward the smaller man. "Surprising, that. Not many will. Still, I bet your blood is soft and gentle – too gentle to be of any use."

He lunged suddenly, while releasing Yugi from the thrall of his gaze, catching the smaller man in his arms. He waited, for – what – Yugi couldn't fathom.

"So, not darting away when you can – interesting. Perhaps you _will _prove worthy of entering my citadel," Yami murmured, running a finger slowly down Yugi's cheek. He nuzzled in, slowly drawing his nose up along the line his finger had already inscribed. Yugi shuddered when he realized the man's lips were following that same line as well, stroking softly across his cheek. His heart pounding hard enough he was astonished the other man didn't hear the deafening beat of it, Yugi wondered how long this vampire, for he was certain that's what Lord Yami was, would toy with him before draining him dry.

_Blood and shadows...blood and shadows...! _his mind gibbered unhelpfully.

Acting as if he had all the time in the world, and, if he truly were the vampire Yugi suspected, he probably did, Lord Yami's lips nibbled gently down that line on Yugi's cheek again – toward Yugi's vulnerable neck, paused, and continued on their path until they rested where Yugi's neck met his shoulder. Momentarily content, Lord Yami rested there.

"Your heartbeat is so strong and rapid, like a frightened, caged bird, little Yugi." Now Lord Yami's voice was a sensual rasp while his lips tickled as they brushed lightly against Yugi's skin. "What to do? What to do? Should I turn and bite, releasing that frantic bird to fly free? You haven't moved at all, though I sense the fear in you – is it that you like this attention I'm paying you? Or are you terrified beyond the ability to move even though I've released you from my will?"

Yugi found a noncommittal sound making its way past his throat.

Lord Yami chuckled. "I do believe you'd let me bite you, Yugi!"

Suddenly he pulled back, opening his mouth wide to fully display the fangs he indeed possessed, inhaled sharply and darted back in again. Yugi closed his eyes tight, certain that death was stooping from above to rip him from life –

– only to have a gentle kiss land on the base of his neck instead.

"Pity I'm not really a vampire," Lord Yami sighed. "Still, I am the Lord of Blood and I need some of yours if I am to know the true shape and strength of your soul."

Yugi winced as one of the lord's talon-sharp fingernails, from where it had come to rest unnoticed during the lord's vampire playacting, dug swiftly into his cheek, drawing a line of pain along the place that had already known the lord's gentler touch of finger and lips.

"Let's see what we have here," Lord Yami stood straight, but still managed to clasp Yugi to himself with his left arm. If the scrape along his cheek weren't proof enough, the iron tang in the air and sticky red liquid Yami played with in his right hand would have been sufficient to show Yugi that Yami had gotten what he wanted from him – a sample of his blood.

"Hmmm..." Yami smiled down at the blood in his fingertips and he gently smeared it between his fingers. Tendrils of shadow reached up from the blood at the touch of the lord's magic.

"You've shadows in your blood – it is good. You will be able to survive in my citadel," Yami told him. "Still, I wonder..." He continued to roll the blood between his fingertips until all of it converted into shadow. After a moment of hovering about as an amorphous cloud, the shadow that had once been Yugi's blood coalesced, and a shape formed.

"Kwee!"

"Ah, a shadow-kuriboh lurking in your blood. No wonder my erstwhile knight thought to bring you to me," Yami observed. "Guard him!" he directed the shadow-kuriboh.

Yugi started as the shadow monster darted over, rubbed affectionately against his unwounded cheek, dove into his shadow, and disappeared.

At Lord Yami's curt gesture, Yugi entered the Citadel of Shadows. It was an eerie place, but no part of it was more eerie than his host. Shadows appeared and disappeared with none of the regard for light sources that Yugi was accustomed to. They flowed like a solid river across the ceiling, and darted in and out of the walls like playful kittens. Wherever Yami walked, the shadows flowed to envelop him, and seemed reluctant to pull away. Once or twice Yugi caught what seemed to be sharp commands at which the shadows darted away swiftly.

Most of them, when they had occasion to brush up against him, seemed to be as ordinary shadows, but a few of them clung to him with the chill and clammy touch of what felt like mist. He didn't like the way these shadows felt but...

"Kwee!" The shadow-kuriboh Lord Yami had evoked from his blood darted from within his own shadow, grasped a tendril of a clammy shadow, and pulled. Yugi felt relief when the shadow released from him with an odd popping sound. Lord Yami's head turned sharply at that, and his eyes narrowed as he regarded the tableau. The Lord of Shadows spoke a few words Yugi couldn't understand, but the tone was certainly one of command, mingled with displeasure. All the shadows, but for the kuriboh, darted into the walls.

"Even with your blood-shadow, the citadel is dangerous. Heed the kuriboh and do not enter any area you are barred from," Yami commanded. With a final, narrowed-eye glare at the now shadow-free walls, he turned and stalked down the corridor again. Kuriboh cooed once more and dove back into the hiding place in Yugi's natural shadow.

Yugi was faintly surprised that Lord Yami led him past an impressive room that had what he could only believe to be a throne in it, to a small chamber that looked for all the world like a combination library and office. Gesturing absently, Yami indicated a plush chair in front of the desk, while he sank with what appeared to be great weariness into the twin of that chair behind the desk.

"So, you fancy yourself the Hero of legend." Yami's voice held a faintly condescending and disbelieving tone.

"No."

"But, the Purple Knight..."

"He seems to believe it because I have this." Yugi lifted the Pendant of Pharaoh slightly. "The Water Sage does, too, and that's how I come to have this." Yugi touched the Hero's Heartstone. "But I don't believe it. I know I'm not a hero – much less this 'Hero' of legend."

"So you aren't just a more convincing and smooth-talking wannabe than the usual riff-raff, then," Lord Yami leaned his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers to his lips while he regarded Yugi with a searching gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"At any given time there are dozens of young men, and the odd handful of young women, who either have had their heads filled from childhood with various stories and 'ancestral proofs' or otherwise have convinced themselves that they are the Hero of legend, destined to save us from Chaos, wandering about the three lands. They do various deeds trying to get the attention of either myself, or my two – compatriots – since the bits of the legend we still recall indicate that the Hero of legend has to enlist our aid. My Guardian Knight has kept all of them from the doors of my citadel – until today. None of those I've met when I have been forced to leave my citadel have ever passed the test of Blood and Shadows – as you did."

"Met? How, if the Purple Knight..."

Yami smiled deeply, baring his fangs again. It was a thoroughly unholy smile. "Some of these – heroes – have been very – creative – in trying to catch the attention of any one of us 'Kindly Lords'. All of them have discovered that we can be – not so 'kindly' – when provoked."

Despite himself, Yugi shivered.

"I will have to think about what to do with you. You obviously didn't come here for the same reason these annoying pests have, and only made it to my door with my Guardian Knight's help. You do also bear a shadow-creature, weak though it is, in your blood. Perhaps after some training – and certainly some sort of transformation," Lord Yami's eyes flicked swiftly across Yugi's short and quite non-threatening appearance assessingly. "you will be an acceptable corridor guardian once you become one of my Shadows."

Yugi's blood ran cold. "What?!"

"Didn't you know? Once a mortal enters one of the three dwellings of the Kindly Lords – my Citadel of Shadows, the Lord of Ice's Dragon Aerie, or the Lord of Fire's Warrior Stronghold, that mortal is never seen again." The Lord of Shadows shrugged his shoulders. "It's what we do – sorry. You certainly seem nice enough, and you haven't annoyed me as so many glory-seekers have, so I'm not thinking of turning you into a shadow-monster. The kuriboh has taken a liking to you too, so I could just transform you into a Shadow version of yourself and set you both in place guarding a safe inner hallway."

"Uhm... But... Why?"

"When you entered my citadel, you became mine. It's just how it is. If I don't transform you, the Citadel would force you to..." Lord Yami interrupted himself. "Look, it's just best if I handle it. You've got the best chance of staying pretty close to more or less yourself, at least for a while, if I transform you personally. We will talk more about this, tomorrow. I can hold off the Well for a night while I think of what to do."

"'Staying more or less myself'?!"

"The weak-willed ones become mindless Shadows, and then there are... I don't want to talk about this!" Lord Yami suddenly flared at him. "Kuriboh, escort him to his room, and make sure he stays there."

Kuriboh erupted from his shadow as if shot from a cannon at the command. Yugi took one look at the dangerous, renewed evil red gleam in the Lord of Shadows' eyes, and decided not to argue – at least for now. Away from Lord Yami's presence perhaps he could find a way to get out of this crazy place. He recalled the horror-walk down the corridor of shadows, and realized there probably was no escape. Without another word, he followed where the shadow-kuriboh led. He had never really paid attention to shadows before, but now he was acutely aware of them. It wasn't until he caught a familiar red gleam in the depths of a Shadowed corner that a terrible thought occurred to him.

"Kuriboh – can Lord Yami watch me through the shadows?"

"Kwee." There was what Yugi could only think of as a sad note in the affirmative reply.

"So there's no escape from here?"

"Kwee." This tone was negative.

"I'm really going to be turned into a Shadow?"

"Koo-ree?" This reply quavered uncertainly.

"Yes, you will become Shadow and join our ranks." An imposing Shadow detached itself from the pool of shadows by a doorway.

"But..."

"It is not so bad. Lord Yami intends to leave you as yourself – as much as he can. You won't become like me." The shadow-monster gestured toward himself and stepped more fully into the light. Yugi tried not to be rude as he looked, but it was hard to not fall back a step from this tall, frightening, skeletal Shadow.

"I am Everon. I know I appear fearsome, but, my power is turned only against those who threaten my Lord Yami, the Cold Shadows of the citadel, and the creatures of Chaos. I never attack my fellow Shadows."

"And I..."

"You aren't yet, but you will be. I am detailed to guard your door this night. Before you go jumping at every shadow in your room, I can let you know that they are mere shadows, not Shadows such as we are. I doubt Lord Yami will pry, so you can rest without worry this last night."

Yugi shivered. "He – seems reluctant..." He began.

Everon nodded. "I believe so, too."

"Why won't he just let me go, then? It's obvious I'm not the Hero of legend if he's intending to turn me into a Shadow instead of helping me, so, why not just..."

Everon shook his head sadly. "He can't, or perhaps he would. He tried once, with another hero-seeking youth who caught his attention once when Lord Yami had to travel away from the Citadel of Shadows, but..." Everon gestured. A hunched over figure emerged from the Shadows. It gibbered madly. It drooled shadow-stuff all over the floor. Its cold, flat eyes gleamed with a dull sort of evil will. "The Citadel wasn't as willing to let him go as Lord Yami was. Against the boy's will, the Well of Shadows lured him back. He threw himself into the Well, and emerged like this – a Cold Shadow. Weak enough to not be a threat as long as he's watched, but nothing of the harmless youth he was remains in what he has become."

Yugi shivered, staring at the poor creature.

"Go back, Saggi. Go back to Marie," Everon commanded the thing firmly. Saggi gibbered at him one last time, and melted back into the shadows. "Do you see why it is best if Lord Yami is the one to change you?"

Yugi nodded in horror. "What is the 'Well of Shadows'?"

For an answer a shadowy, skeletal hand dropped to his shoulder. There was no touch of the clinging and clammy coldness in the Shadow's touch. "There will be time enough to teach you all you need to know – afterward. It's best to enjoy this final night as a human being without the concerns of the Shadows weighing you down."

"But..."

An eerie moaning keen echoed up and down the hallway. "Go. The hour of Shadows is almost upon us, and we must guard the corridors against the Cold Shadows who gain strength at this time. You will be safe in your room." Everon opened the door, and gestured for Yugi to enter. Defeated, at least for the moment, he entered the room, and permitted Everon to close the door behind him.

"Kwee!" Kuriboh, as before, rubbed against his cheek and then dove into his shadow. Yugi glanced with trepidation at the corners of the room, but immediately noticed the shadows were normal and not the complete, inky blackness that a Shadow could hide in. Of course, there were still the walls, and Yugi could somehow sense that Yami, Lord of Shadows, could at least view him through ordinary shadows if he wanted. He looked sourly at the bed. Yeah, like after all this he was going to get any sort of sleep this night!

"What am I going to do?!" he asked aloud in a sort of resigned despair. A flash below his chin caught his eye. Sighing, he looked down. To his surprise, it wasn't the Pendant of Pharaoh, the cursed artifact that got him into this mess, signaling for his attention – it was the Hero's Heartstone.

He nearly sobbed as he caught it up in his hand, and felt the familiar throb of warmth beneath his fingertips. "I..!" he began. A throb somehow conveyed a sense of warning. _Oh, best not to speak aloud,_ he realized. Another pulse of warmth agreed. "_What – what can I do? How do I escape?" _Yugi asked urgently in his mind. The stone remained quiet in his hand. After several frustrating minutes while he tried to get it to respond again, Yugi gave up. His situation seemed hopeless. Sighing deeply, he decided to follow Everon's suggestion, and go to bed. Even though he was disillusioned that the Hero's Heartstone seemed to have called attention to itself just to abandon him, as he drifted off to sleep his hand crept up to take comfort touching its warmth.

_"Claim their swords." _The command wandered unnoticed through Yugi's sleeping mind.

– – – – –

Heh, heh, heh. – ebilgrin – Somehow I don't think 'Lord Yami' was what Yugi (or any readers, for that matter) was expecting.

Next chapter teaser – The Lord, the Hero, and the ???


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five – The Lord, the Hero, and the Gloomblade**

**  
**Lord Yami focused his attention on the battle that raged every night within his own citadel. He wearied of the need to be constantly vigilant against the Cold Shadows, blocking them as always from breaking free of the corridors and walls that confined them. He used his ability to not only look through any shadow to any other place where shadows fell to be the ultimate spy of the forces he himself commanded, but often shadow-walk to locations within the citadel where his power was directly needed to keep the Cold Shadows penned in. He knew that if a Cold Shadow ever broke free of his control during the hour of Shadows his Guardian Knight would have one last chance to contain it, but he was determined that would never happen. Even after all these years of nightly battles, it never had.

The hour of Shadows ran its course, and the Well of Shadows finally recalled its evil Shadow-spawned forces. Yami used his magic as the Lord of Shadows to ease those Shadows of his forces that had taken damage in this battle to the curiously sleep-like state that would heal them before the next battle, and finally turned his attention to the only non-Shadow occupant of the citadel.

Yugi had fallen asleep. Yami started as a spasm of regret clenched at what remained of his heart. The last thing he wanted to do was relegate this hapless young man to a Shadow existence, but... He knew the Well of Shadows sensed a human was here. Just as Yami had become aware of Yugi the moment he started to climb to the door of the citadel, the Well of Shadows had known, too. Yami could tell that the Well wanted him. Just like that young man before, if Yami did nothing the Well would claim Yugi for its own, turning him into a Cold Shadow to use against him. Yami didn't want to find himself fighting against Yugi, so far better for him to transform Yugi himself. Maybe, if Yugi didn't fight against him too much, the young man would retain some of his own personality for a while. Yami hated to admit it, but his own existence, partially of the Shadows himself, was beset by bonds of duty and inescapable loneliness. If Yugi's personality survived the transformation intact, it would give Yami someone new to talk to – at least for a while.

Sighing, Yami turned from watching Yugi sleep. The least he could do was give him some privacy before ending his human life by changing him forever. Besides, he needed sleep himself if he were to have the resources necessary to change Yugi as he intended. It was harder to keep as much of a human personality intact while changing him than just transforming him into Shadow in the first place.

– – – – –

**  
**"Kwee! Kweet! Kweee!" Yami blinked sleep from his eyes at the kuriboh's alarm. The momentary disorientation of reclaiming his consciousness from sleep eased, and he bolted up from his shadowed bed.

"What? What is it?" Yami demanded, summoning shadows from the corners to clothe himself in.

"Kooweeeee!" Kuriboh's keen rang a note of horror.

"The Well?! He can't!" Yami focused his attention on the shadows for a moment, then spat a disgusted curse. "There are no shadows in the corridor leading to the Well. I can't even look, much less shadow-walk there to stop him!"

He dashed from his chamber in panic, resolving then and there that the Well was not going to have a chance to transform this particular human. To save Yugi from the fate of becoming a mindlessly evil Cold Shadow, Yami would even go so far as to kill him first.

He summoned his loyal Shadows to him as he ran, hopping from shadow to shadow along the way. Perhaps it was meant to be like this. Instead of a nightly skirmish with the Cold Shadows of the Well, seeking to keep them from spreading their nightmares and evil across the human lands unchecked, perhaps Yami should have taken the initiative long ago and brought the battle right to the Well itself. Ironic that it was to save a human, even if it meant killing him to save him, that brought Yami to this realization, but Yami was no stranger to irony.

The very power he had sought in his reckless youth had come at a terrible price, and brought a heavy responsibility that stripped the power of any sort of pleasure. He was trapped, for the most part, within the confines of his citadel as surely as the Cold Shadows of the Well were. If he let his vigilance waver even a little, if even one Cold Shadow broke free of his control, the toll it could take on the humans it encountered would be terrible. And Yami didn't think he would ever forgive himself that the power to become the Lord of Blood and Shadows had cost him the life of his best friend. If not for that sacrifice, Yami would have gladly let himself succumb to the despair of his situation long ago, and let the Well of Shadows do what it willed as it spread its Cold Shadows across the land.

Not for the first time since becoming the Lord of Blood and Shadows, Yami wished he had found the fabled Gloomblade. Supposedly, it was his sword, as Lord of Blood and Shadows, and it contained the full power of the Shadows. He had searched the citadel years ago for the blade, and never found it. The only place he hadn't searched was the Well itself. He considered it only another of the bitter ironies that now commanded his life if indeed that were the hiding place for the sword, since in his hands it would have the power to break the evil of the Well.

"Lord Yami!"

He pulled up short from his run at his name, and turned. His loyal Shadows seethed at the margin of a doorway in the corridor he had just dashed into. They tried to follow but this corridor, leading to the Well of Shadows, unlike all other corridors in the Citadel, was fully lit. The walls themselves glowed, preventing the more cunning Shadows from hiding within them. Yami's Shadows were unable to follow him.

"I will go on alone," Yami said. "I will do whatever it takes, even if it means killing him, to prevent Yugi from becoming a mindless puppet of the Well."

"It's too dangerous," Everon countered. "The Well..."

"The Well," Yami ground out between clenched teeth, "has bitten off more than it can chew, this time." He turned, knowing that his Shadows, while they couldn't help him, couldn't stop him either, and ran down the lambent corridor. It had come to this. Perhaps it would be his last encounter with the Well. He remembered his first – and only – direct encounter with a painful vividness. Indeed, it had been flinging himself into the Well, surviving the realm beyond, and emerging with his personality intact that had given him the double-edged power of the Shadows. It had cost his friend his life, and given Yami the awful responsibilities he now fulfilled, but it had been that reckless act that had made him 'Lord of Blood and Shadows'.

"Yugi! Yugi!" Maybe Yugi was just lost and he could yet avoid this terrible choice. The corridor of light ended. Purest black met his gaze at the archway to the next, short corridor. He knew it led to the top of the room leading to the Well. A spiral staircase wound along the wall down from the top of the massive, circular room to the floor below. In the center of that floor, the mouth of the Well of Shadows gaped. Yugi, ignoring his calls, entered that blackened corridor.

"YUGI!"

He tried to rush through the corridor so black with Cold Shadows that he couldn't see. He could feel them grabbing at him and slowing him down. He snarled in frustration, lashing out to either side with his power to break the grip of the evil shadows. He didn't dare try to clear a path in front of him, for fear of striking Yugi. Finally, he fought free of the corridor, and could see again.

He almost wished he hadn't. Yugi was fully in the thrall of the Well, he could tell now that he was this close. The young man's eyes were flat and blank like those of a sleepwalker. Yami had no idea what the Well was showing him to compel him into this danger, as Yugi turned toward the head of the staircase.

"YUGI!" He bellowed, trying to break Yugi free with just his voice. Yugi did turn and look at him uncomprehendingly before the blankness in his eyes deepened. He turned away, and instead of starting down the spiral stairs, flung himself into the space above the Well.

"NO!"Yami jumped, as Yugi had. There was no way he was going to let the Well of Shadows just _take_ him. This was one human who was not going to become a Cold Shadow, even if it meant his own, or Yugi's, death. He was going to fight the Well for Yugi.

Yugi plunged into the portal that was the mouth of the Well. Yami could sense that the Well had pulled Yugi through itself and into the Shadow Realm. Falling only seconds after Yugi, Yami gathered what he could of his power, and braced himself for his own entry into that dread place. It took him a moment to find his bearings. As he did, he shaped the part of his soul that was now Shadows, the painful sacrifice of part of his own humanity that has given him power of the Shadows, and sent it to protect Yugi from the Shadows of the Well. A moment after shaping it, Yami also entered the protective sphere. Relieved, he closed his arms around Yugi. The combination of his presence, and his soul-shadow shield broke the compulsion of the Well on Yugi's mind.

"What's happening? Where am I?" Yugi asked turning and angling out of his arms.

"Yugi – we are in the Shadow Realm. It's the place where both my power, and the power of the Well of Shadows come from."

"How did we – I – get here?"

"The Well enticed you here. It... It's seeking to turn you into a Cold Shadow to use against me. Yugi... You _must_ let me transform you. There's no other way. This is why I told you that I had to be the one to change you. I would much rather have just let you go – if I could..."

Yugi reached a hand up to cup Yami's cheek. "I know. Everon told me as much. But... I don't want... I just want to go home. That's all I've wanted since this began. Isn't there any way?"

Yami shook his head. "No. Especially not now. The Well has never dragged anyone into the Shadow Realm before to change them. The evil Shadows of this place are already battering at my soul shield. If they break through, and you aren't Shadow by then, they will take you and... Yugi, I'm sorry. It's the only way. I will... If you try not to fight it, I can transform you to be a Shadow version of yourself. At least, I think I can." A mighty crack split along the inside of the sphere. "Yugi! Please!"

"O-okay. What do I have to do?"

"Relax, as best you can. Don't worry about it."

"Is it – going to hurt?"

"No, not if you don't fight it. Just let yourself drift, and try not to worry. Close your eyes." Immediately Yugi did. Yami smiled at the mark of trust, even though he knew Yugi was terrified with what was happening, and still frightened of Yami himself. He deeply regretted trying to frighten the young man before. It was making this ordeal even more awful than it had to be.

Yami hugged Yugi tight, and considered swiftly the best way to go about it. There was no time left. Even though it left him completely open to the Shadows, he recalled his soul shield. "Yugi, don't panic. I'm going to wrap you in the shadows of my soul. They will transform you into Shadow safely, even if I..."

"'Even if you'...? _Mmph_!" Yugi couldn't finish his question as he was abruptly, and completely swaddled in Yami's soul-shadow. Ignoring Yami completely, the Cold Shadows sought to break the cocoon of Yami's Shadows surrounding Yugi. Yami started making the mystic gestures that would help him focus and shape his magic to transform the human inside into a being of Shadow.

Brightness speared out from within the shadow-cocoon, startling him, and stopping the flow of his spell. He cursed, and started again, hoping to beat the Cold Shadows and now what had to be Yugi's instinctive fighting to resist the transformation. He regretted deeply that this was far more frightening that it had to be. He had intended to enter Yugi's chamber toward morning, and transform him into a Shadow version of himself before Yugi awoke – to spare him any awareness of the process. That would have been the gentlest way to go about it, rather than this, forcing Yugi to choose, changing him while he was conscious and fully aware...

The brightness startled him again, and poured through his soul-shadow, breaking the cocoon apart. Most of Yami's soul Shadows returned to him, but he felt as some part of them flowed into the brightness he could now see was in Yugi's hands. The Cold Shadows fled from that glow, but they were caught up in it, and pulled into the brightness as well.

Yami blinked. They were still in the Shadow Realm, but now, it seemed rather peaceful.

"What – happened?" he asked.

"Uhm, here." Yugi placed something in his hands. "This belongs to you." The brightness of the object rapidly abated once it was in his hands.

"What is it?" Yami asked.

"The Gloomblade, the sword of the Lord of Blood and Shadows," Yugi replied. "At least, that's what it told me. I think. Well, someone told me – I think it was the sword, but it might have been..." Yugi picked up the softly glowing purple stone that hung from a silken cord about his neck. "I suppose it might have been the Hero's Heartstone that told me, now that I think about it."

"What happened?" Yami repeated again, looking around at the changed Shadow Realm, and the sword in his hands. "I don't understand!"

"Well," Yugi quirked a crooked, self-deprecating smile at him. "Apparently, I really am the Hero of legend. Oops?"

Yami laughed at that, and swept Yugi up into a brief, but heartfelt, hug. He sighed raggedly. "I'm glad. Not that you wouldn't have been welcome in my citadel as a Shadow, but..."

"I'm more happy to remain myself. No offense!" Yugi added in a hurry.

Yami chuckled. "None taken. Yugi, I would have just let you go, if I thought I could have."

Yugi's eyes shined at him with something that almost looked like trust. Yami blinked. It had been aeons since someone had trusted him. "I know. Given that the Well of Shadows hypnotized me and brought me here, you were right."

"So, the Hero of legend... Who'd have thought it?" Yami said to break the awkward moment.

"Not me! Uhm, it's not all scary any more, but how do we get out of here?" Yugi glanced around the now quiet Shadow Realm.

Yami smirked. "I'm the uncontested lord of this realm, now, thanks to you. Breaking the power of the Well of Shadows and trapping it in the Gloomblade increased my power." He lifted the sword, and suddenly both of them were in his library/office again. "See?"

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Shadows of the Past

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six – Shadows of the Past**

**  
**Yami's strongest shielding magic, now augmented by the power of his Gloomblade, wasn't enough to protect Yugi from the mystical wanderlust as one side of the Pendant of Pharaoh started to glow again. This time it pointed north, toward the Dragon Lands. Yugi shivered at the thought. He knew that only the most hardy of humans lived near the Dragon Lands, for the mighty beasts were not only commonly seen in the skies overhead, but also raided livestock for food.

Even though Yugi asked, Yami wasn't forthcoming with information about the Dragon Lands, or the lord that ruled there – Seto, the Lord of Ice and Dragons. Yami said only that there had been a history between them, and nothing more.

The next day, they started down the steep hill from the Citadel of Shadows. Something nagged at Yugi, in the back of his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Yami had assured him that his power over Shadows was just as strong outside the Citadel as within, and that he could summon a legion of Shadows at a moment's notice if needed. Until then, there was no need for them to travel in a great company of guards. Yami said it was to prevent them from calling notice to themselves, but Yugi wondered if it was more that Yami wanted more time alone with him. There was such a delicious sort of energy between them, that Yugi decided he was just fine traveling alone with the Shadow Lord.

Unfortunately, at the base of the hill, those delightful thoughts were dashed.

"My lord Yami." The Purple Knight bowed low toward his lord, then knelt before him.

"What do you want?" Yami's voice was cold and forbidding.

"You are setting out from the Citadel. I will accompany you," the guardian replied simply.

Yami glared at his bowed head for a long moment. "Very well."

Yugi was a bit surprised at how easily Yami gave in. Admittedly, his experiences had been brief, and he hoped that he would have more time, a lot of it, to get to know the Shadow Lord better, but he didn't think Yami liked _not_ getting his way. Sure, Yami hadn't actually changed Yugi into Shadow, which he'd stated he wanted to, but that was only because he thought he had to to save him. Yami's heart had never been behind that decision.

But this... The prickling of his skin whenever Yami was near enough – he knew Yami felt that, too. He knew that Yami wanted to be alone with him, away from the benign but ever-watchful eyes of his Shadows in the Citadel. That Yami had given up so easily meant that...

Well, he didn't know what it meant. On the one hand, Yugi was a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to be alone with Yami a bit longer, but on the other... Perhaps it was best. He could concentrate on what was happening, and pay better attention to it if he weren't distracted. For the first time, Yugi thought that perhaps when this adventure was over, he'd like to do other than just go back home. Maybe, if they survived it, he'd go back to the Citadel of Shadows, instead. That is, if what he thought Yami was feeling was the same as what he was. Since he wasn't sure exactly what he was feeling, the thought only confused him.

Yugi looked up from his ponderings to find the Purple Knight had regained his feet, and his towering, vaguely menacing presence. The cool touch of the knight's gauntlet on his face was gentle, though, as the knight turned Yugi's still-wounded cheek toward the light. The scrape along his cheek had stopped hurting, unless he happened to touch it, and Yugi hadn't looked in any mirrors, so he'd forgotten about it.

"Ever dramatic, my lord is," the Purple Knight said. "Couldn't just take a sample of blood from your finger. Here." Something was smoothed over Yugi's face. Something that made him hiss involuntarily when the scrape was touched, but something that immediately eased the pain.

"What...?" Yugi asked. His hand flew up to touch his cheek. It felt as smooth as it had before Yami had scratched it open.

"A magical healing balm I had left from when I was still human," the Purple Knight replied. "I kept it in case any travelers to my place ever needed it."

"When you were still – human?" Yugi asked softly as the knight turned away.

"Let's go," Yami suggested, with an impatient note in his voice. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Yami and his knight wound up in front, as Yugi's shorter legs prevented him from keeping pace easily. Any time he was among three or more people walking together, he wound up trailing behind. It had been happening all his life, so he was used to following others with longer legs and faster strides. Fortunately, the forest they entered slowed his companions down somewhat, so he didn't have to embarrass himself by calling out for them to ease up the pace a little, and let him catch up.

Yugi found himself even more confused as they continued walking. His memory replayed the events of yesterday's encounter between these two, and he simply couldn't square them with how Yami behaved toward the Purple Knight, now. Yami had been mean, insulting even, when the Purple Knight had escorted Yugi to the Citadel. He'd even thrown the knight down the hill with his power over shadows. Now, the two walked side by side. Granted, there was no easy conversation flowing between them, but they hardly seemed to share any sort of animosity with each other. To Yugi's eyes, there was almost an easy sort of familiarity between them, more like that of friends than anything else. Trailing behind them, Yugi worried at the puzzle their behavior presented.

"Hello, there!" Indigo eyes appeared in the shade between the roots of a massive tree.

"Uhm...?" Yugi glanced nervously to where his companions were still in sight ahead of him – just barely.

"Oh, I'm nothing to be worried about. See? I'm in the shadows," the voice accompanying the eyes was quick to reassure. Yugi narrowed his eyes at the thing. The creature was implying that it was Yami's without actually stating it. Distrustful of the coyness, Yugi played along.

"Oh, one of the Shadows, then. Why are you here?" He kept walking, to at least keep Yami and the Purple Knight in his sight. The all-but-invisible creature in the brush kept pace.

"Hmm, to keep you company. They are off in their own world, and don't realize how much you have to struggle to keep up with them. It gets kinda lonely, doesn't it?" There was that. It was nice to have someone to talk to. But... "I'll just stay here, out of the way, in the shade of the trees. Promise. I won't be any bother at all. Aren't you a bit curious about those two?"

Yugi didn't say anything, but his side-long look betrayed him. The creature hiding in the trees laughed.

"Well, those two are the best of friends. Even now, thousands of years after they last traveled the lands looking for adventure, as you do now, their friendship is legendary."

"Really? I've never heard of it," Yugi said.

"Legendary among some of us. They were – maybe twenty years old when they were adventurers. They weren't geased to wander as you are, but wander they did, saving people, defeating creatures – all the sort of stuff that heroes do." Yugi thought he could detect a faint note of disdain in the hidden creature's voice.

"What happened to change that?" Yugi asked.

"No one is sure, except perhaps those two, but Yami got it into his head that he was going to challenge the Citadel of Shadows and vie for its power. His friend cautioned against it, but Yami was insistent. Again, no one knows the details but for the two who experienced it, but, Yami did become the Lord of Shadows and his friend – his best friend – emerged as a fusion of man and Shadow. More monster than man, now, this poor unfortunate was banished from his friend's sight and yet guards him with the same care and devotion he held when he was still human. Not a particularly nice story of friendship, is it?" Yugi could clearly hear the mocking sneer in the voice, now.

"And a highly speculative and incomplete view of it," a new voice added. Startled, Yugi looked up, and then up again to find the Purple Knight looming over him. So engrossed had he become in the story he'd stopped walking in the same direction as the others, and wandered toward the shade under the trees.

"What is it?" Yami called. He'd stayed ahead and kept talking as a distraction while the Purple Knight doubled back to see what had detained Yugi.

"One of the Chaos Dragon's Shades, my lord," the Purple Knight replied.

"Aww, I've been found out. Time for me to dash. I'll see you again, Hero, very soon. I must report to my lord. We are watching you, Hero Yugi. Every step, every gesture, every word – where there are Shadows, there are also Shades – and just as Lord Yami is the Lord of Shadows, my Lord Chaos is the Lord of Shades!"

The Purple Knight darted forward, amazingly swift and graceful for someone of his massive size, but the Shade had already gone. He turned, and gathered Yugi with a single word. "Come."

Yami looked at the lengthening shadows, then his faintly glowing red eyes fixed on Yugi. "You are getting tired."

Yugi shrugged, not wanting to admit it. He wanted out of this forest of shifting shadows and hidden monsters. He wanted desperately to know the truth of what the Shade had been speaking of, but the air from both Yami and the Purple Knight was forbidding.

"We should tell him the full truth of what happened, instead of leaving him vulnerable with that web of half-truths the Shade wove for him," the Purple Knight suggested softly.

Yami glanced impatiently at his Guardian Knight. He sighed deeply. "You are right. Let us get out of the trees, first. I don't want to be attacked while we sleep, tonight."

A short time later, Yami's eyes smiled and his mystic gestures became more dramatic once he realized he had Yugi's rapt attention. The tent his magic called into being was massive. Everon appeared next, in the midst of a veritable army of Shadows, and nodded arrogantly in Yugi's direction before commanding the others to follow and set up a guard perimeter around the Shadow Camp. Yami gestured again, and the flap of the tent obligingly opened spilling soft light into the gathering natural darkness of night.

"Enter," Yami commanded Yugi quietly. "It's a safe haven to rest through the night."

Yugi was hard pressed to not exclaim aloud at the interior of the shadow-tent. The shadows making up the fabric of the tent were the texture of comforting velvet rather than the frightening inky darkness he'd been half expecting. What appeared for all the world like an overstuffed chair beckoned his tired body and before he'd realized it, he sank into its cloud-like depths. He sighed deeply as the shadow-stuff absorbed the aches from his muscles.

Yami laughed at Yugi's reaction. Yugi sat up in alarm, frightened that perhaps he'd claimed the chair Yami intended for himself. Yami waved a negligent hand his way before invoking a matching chair of shadows for himself. At the entrance, the Purple Knight bowed deeply toward his lord and turned to oversee the protection of the camp.

"Wait," Yami commanded. "Enter. Everon will see to our security." The Purple Knight still hesitated. "Please," Yami added simply. The Purple Knight bowed again, entered, and permitted the door-flap to fall closed behind him. "Do you need anything?" This was addressed to Yugi. "Food? Drink?"

Yugi shook his head. He was too tired to be interested in either. Truth to tell, he'd almost like nothing more than to sink deeper into the plushness of the chair and sleep for a week, but he sensed that Yami might be ready to talk.

Yami's gaze fell on the flickering flame in one of the sconces his magic contrived to hang on walls of silken shadows. "I was young, and brash. As we did in those days, as some still do to this day, I went to the Water Sage for him to read my destiny. He was troubled, and tried to avoid telling it to me, but I insisted I had a right to know. He finally told me that I would become one of the Lords of this world, by the power of blood. I had no idea what that meant at the time. Since I was a swordsman of some skill, I thought perhaps I could vie to become the Lord of Warriors. I didn't realize then that the blood to be spilled to secure my power was not my own."

The Purple Knight dared to interrupt. "My lord Yami and I met as fellow warriors trying to find our place and make our mark upon the world. It was only natural for both of us to adventure together. I was not surprised to find out my friend possessed such a grand destiny."

Yami snorted. "'Grand destiny'? Being the Lord of Shadows means that there isn't anything I can really touch or hold on to." Matching actions to words, Yami's hand brushed against Yugi's. When Yugi didn't pull his hand from the touch, Yami dared to clasp it more firmly. That simple action, how tentative the touch, asking, instead of demanding, dropped the last puzzle piece of Yami into place in Yugi's mind. Yami wasn't some despot holed up in his citadel drunk on his own power. His seeming harshness was only that – seeming. He had banished the Purple Knight and treated him poorly for a reason – a reason Yugi suspected he had figured out. But, he wanted to hear the whole story, if Yami was ready to share.

"What happened – to give you the power of the Shadows?"

"It sounds so innocuous, when you say it like that. The power of Shadows became mine – no, I claimed it, by paying a terrible price. A price that I pay to this day..." Yugi held very still, not sure if Yami would share more of the story, or retreat into a shell of silence.

"He needs to know, my lord," the Purple Knight said softly.

"I know, but – even after all this time, it is still not easy to speak of," Yami replied, just as softly. Squaring his shoulders, gazing stonily off into the distance, he continued. "We adventured, my friend and I, doing heroic deeds. At first I thought my strength at arms would make me a natural to become the Lord of Warriors. I was..."

"We were not up to the task of defeating the Warrior Lord, which is how one proves one's worthiness to vie for the power," the Purple Knight interjected.

"Indeed." A grin flashed across Yami's face. "Though, it was a glorious fight!"

"It surely was."

"During our adventures, we had learned a thing or two about dragons, saving various damsels in distress, as well as an oppressed village or two – and so I thought perhaps that was the power that I could claim – based on the Water Sage's reading."

"Unfortunately, being good at defeating dragons doesn't make one good at governing them – which is what the Dragon Lord does," the Purple Knight said.

"I couldn't even get past the border. Dragons love diplomacy, and attacking the first one we saw ended that particular dream. So, we traveled to the Shadow Lands, fought our way through Cold Shadows into the citadel, through the citadel, and into the Chamber of the Well of Shadows. Brash, stupid, arrogant..."

"But realizing that as the Lord of Shadows was dead..." the Purple Knight interrupted.

"Dead?" Yugi asked.

"We found him on his throne. There was no mark of violence upon his body, and he didn't appear to be that old, but he was dead."

"I think..." Yami began in a low voice. "I think he got tired of it all, battling the Cold Shadows night after night. I think – he let them take him."

Yugi shivered at that. He'd been touched, just the once, by a Cold Shadow before Kuriboh pulled it off of him. He didn't want to imagine what giving up and dying to that clammy touch must have felt like. To choose that sort of death – the former Lord of Shadows must have been desperate, or in a deep despair to tolerate that – much less desire it.

"My lord Yami realized that the Lord of Shadows must have very recently died. The Cold Shadows were still trying to break mystical wards he'd left in place to confine them to the Citadel. We fought our way through them, and all the way to the mouth of the Well..."

"And then – my mind was captured by the Well, Yugi, just like yours was. It gave me visions of myself as the Lord of Shadows, able to do whatever I wanted with the absolute power it wanted to give me. All I had to do was enter, and the power would be mine. All I had to do was submit to it, and it would grant me limitless power. All I had to do..."

"...was sacrifice your soul. I could not permit that to happen."

"I know. And, I am grateful that you acted." Yami turned toward the Purple Knight and stared up into his visor for a long moment. He turned back to Yugi. "My friend would not permit me to sacrifice myself to the Well. I have no memory of it, but I was raving aloud. He rushed me, struggling to pull me from the Well, while shouting to try to bring me back to myself..."

"Nothing worked," the Purple Knight continued. "My lord Yami couldn't hear me and I couldn't pull him away. I knew he would rather die, if he were in his own mind, than to be controlled by another, and so I stopped fighting to pull him away from the Well, and used all my strength to push us both in."

Yugi's breath caught in his lungs.

"It propelled us through the Well, into the Shadow Realm. There, the Well's compulsion on my mind faltered, and I could sense the power that the former Lord of Shadows held. I was able to reach for it, grab a hold of it, and claim it. While I was struggling to do that, the Cold Shadows of the Well were trying to claim me. My friend... My friend protected me, by placing himself between me and those evil Shadows. They – they pulled him apart." Yami dropped his head.

Yugi didn't gasp, but his soul seemed to thud to a stop and he looked up at the Purple Knight then back at Lord Yami. "But, why...?"

"He had delayed the Well's Shadows long enough. I had mastered the power left for me in the Shadow Realm, and become the new Lord of Shadows. I lashed out with that power, beating the Cold Shadows off my friend and destroying them. His blood..." Yami closed his eyes.

"With his new power, my Lord Yami was able to evoke the Shadow creature living in my blood, and fuse my soul with it, reforming me into his Guardian Knight. Since then, I have guarded him in this form, to the extent that he allows."

"Why... Why does he have to guard you from the bottom of the hill? Why isn't he permitted in the Citadel?" Yugi whispered. Yami abruptly turned away.

"We should sleep. We have a lot of walking to do in the morning." He turned, his form melted into the shadows cast by the light from the shadow-sconce, and disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Yugi asked.

The Purple Knight seemed to gaze into the distance for a moment. "The Citadel. Not to worry. I will remain here to guard you." The Purple Knight bowed, and departed through the slit in the fabric wall far in a manner more conventional than his lord's.

Yugi puttered about in the room that suddenly seemed huge with just him in it. He thought about what he'd learned. He thought about the young men, more or less his own age, traveling about trying to find their place in the world. His heart ached a little in sympathy for the tragic story. He wondered what had taken place to make Yami behave so poorly toward the friend who had been there so steadfastly when he needed it most. He doubted Yami would speak of it willingly again, so what he heard was most likely all he would ever learn of that chapter in Yami's life. He wondered if he would figure in any of the future chapters of the Lord of Shadows. And then he realized an important thing. He had never learned the best friend's name. That more than anything seemed highly unfair to him. That friend, who still saw himself as Yami's best friend had lost everything, his life, his shape, his name – and had made protecting Yami the most important thing in this new existence. That Yami banished him from the castle, and refused to call him by name was an injustice that Yugi didn't understand.

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Next chapter teaser – Discussions of Chaos


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven – Discussions of Chaos  
**

True to his promise, the Purple Knight had remained vigilant throughout the night. Yugi's mind teemed with questions upon awakening, and he turned to his remaining companion to answer them.

"I won't speak of anything about my Lord Yami or my past," the Purple Knight warned. Contradicting his warning of being unhelpful, the knight opened shadow-chests Yugi hadn't even realized were there and pulled together a breakfast for him. Yugi accepted the plate of food and the mug containing some steaming beverage gratefully.

"No, I understand. I won't ask anything about that," Yugi replied. "That – thing – in the forest yesterday – you said it was a Shade? And it said it was spying for the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos? What is a Shade? Why is it interested in me?"

"A Shade is what is left of a Shadow once it has been turned to become one of Chaos' minions. Most of them are Cold Shadows that escaped the Citadel, or failed to return from an errand..."

"Errand?" Yugi asked. It seemed rude to eat when his companion had nothing, so holding the plate and mug had become sort of awkward. As if sensing his dilemma, the Purple Knight reached forward and took the plate from his hand.

"Drink. At least taste it. If you don't like it, I'm sure I can find something else." Yugi hesitated again. "Yugi," The visor lowered, as if the knight were pinning him with a stern glance. "I don't eat, so watching you eat will not bother me. What will bother me is if you faint from lack of food and I must carry you."

Yugi gulped at the image that produced, and took a hasty sip from his mug. Coffee! He hadn't had coffee since leaving home, the Water Sage had served him tea, and the taste was a welcome delight across his tongue. The Purple Knight chuckled as Yugi drained the mug in quick order.

"Coffee is to your liking, then," the Purple Knight said. He traded Yugi the plate for the empty mug and filled it again. Yugi wondered about the nature of the food. If it were the stuff of shadows, how good could it be for him? Still, the coffee seemed to sharpen his focus, even if it were shadow-coffee, and the food on his plate, even if it were merely shadows, satisfied the gaping hole where he stomach was supposed to be.

Now, patiently holding the refilled coffee mug until Yugi wanted it again, the Purple Knight continued his explanation. "Even before gaining the Gloomblade, my Lord Yami held some control over the Cold Shadows themselves, even if not over the Well that spawned them. Cold Shadows serve a purpose in the world, but they are very dark, and need a strong hand to control them."

"What sort of purpose could they serve?" Yugi mused aloud.

"Humans need monsters to vie again, and compare themselves to. Humans don't like nightmares, phobias, and darkness – but they need them. Shadows, and, when necessary, Cold Shadows, serve as the things that go bump in the night, that humans need to bring out their best qualities. Yami, as Lord of Shadows, helps to keep a level of darkness in the world, so that humans have something to be heroic about."

"So Yami is the Lord of Nightmares, and of Darkness, along with being the Lord of Shadows?" Yugi shivered. He traded his empty plate for the full mug, and sipped at the hot coffee.

"Not all nightmares, and not all darkness. Some darkness is already within the human heart. But, as people become more and more adept at sublimating it, they tend to forget it even exists. Darkness unnoticed can fester, and then erupt into full-blown evil – that is the sort of Darkness that becomes the Blackness the Lord Dragon of Chaos seeks to spread. We Shadows, under the control and command of a Shadow Lord who understands this, help humans to confront and master that darkness within, so that it never becomes true evil."

Yugi considered. And, on top of this, Yami had also had to battle the Cold Shadows night after night to prevent them from breaking loose entirely from the citadel, and his control. No wonder he had such a grim sort of air about him.

"Wow. So many things I never knew. How many know of this?"

"Very few. Yami, myself, perhaps a few of the more intelligent of his Shadows. The Water Sage knows, but I doubt the other two Kindly Lords are aware of the full extent of Yami's duties as the Shadow Lord – just as we are not completely aware of what their duties are. The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos surely knows, since it is creating Shades to unbalance Yami's work. Beware of them, Yugi. If you wander too close to one, it might take you and then..."

"Then?" Yugi whispered.

The Purple Knight shook his head. "Humans taken by Shades become the worst of the monsters the Chaos Dragon rules. Everything of light, every ounce of compassion, and every impulse toward good is warped into its opposite. You are the Hero of legend, destined to defeat the Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. It would like nothing better than to prevent your foretold confrontation from ever taking place."

"What else can you tell me about – it?" Yugi stumbled a bit over the pronoun. He'd met the Lord Dragon of Chaos, and to him, _he_ was no mere 'it'. Yugi wasn't sure if he should tell the Purple Knight or Yami that he'd already been approached by the Dragon of Chaos.

"It is very cunning, and personable. It flies above the Three Lands surrounded by many of its monsters – Shades, which you know about, and Drakors, which are warped versions of some of the Lord of Dragons' subjects, while Knaves scour the ground beneath the storms for anyone unfortunate to be out in the storm. Knaves are the corrupted Knights of the Lord of Warriors. We have been able to tell that some people are converted into Shades, if they are caught in a Chaos Storm, but others – perhaps they serve as sustenance for this army of blackness in some way for they are never seen, in any form, again."

Yugi stilled. So close. He'd been so close to becoming one of those unfortunate humans. Why? Why had the Chaos Dragon spared him? Was it because he wanted to toy with him longer? Was it because he was afraid that Yugi was the Hero and taking him then would have started some sort of mystical conflict he wasn't ready for yet? Yugi knew _he_ wasn't ready for any conflict with the Chaos Dragon. Not yet. Not ever, if he could help it.

"What – what does it want?" Yugi whispered aloud.

"Just this: complete control over everything. To spread chaos across the entire land. To rule everything with caprice and darkness."

Yugi looked up. It hadn't been the Purple Knight answering his question, it had been Lord Yami. Suddenly, it seemed important to be completely honest.

"I – I met the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, once."

"WHAT?!" The surprised word rang in doubled tones since both Yami and the Purple Knight uttered it.

"Before – before I met the Water Sage, even." Yugi scrunched his eyes closed to avoid the accusing eyes facing him, and in an attempt to recall every detail of the memory. "I had been caught out in a Chaos Storm, and tried to hide under some bushes at the base of a tree. I had only ever read about the Storms before and never realized how horrible the sounds, much less the tortured faces in the sky, could be. It – he, greeted me, while I was trying to hide. I..." Yugi blushed at the memory. "I offered to move aside and make room for him to hide under the bushes, too, you see, I never looked up to see who it was, my eyes were closed, and it was so awful. I thought he was just another traveler caught on the road, and I wanted to – save him..."

Arms closed around him, and he was pulled back against a chest. Soft shadow-stuff cushioned his cheek, so Yugi knew it was Yami offering him comfort.

"Tell us what happened," Yami suggested softly.

"Nothing much to tell. I was scared out of my wits," Yugi admitted. "He asked me my name, I gave it to him, and he said we'd meet again, after I had, oh, how did he put it? 'Seasoned more to his tastes' or something like that. I think the Dragon wants to – to... eat me."

"Most assuredly metaphorically, Yugi. The Dragon Lord of Blackness and Chaos has no more need for food than I do," the Purple Knight stated. "It – he subsists upon the very chaos he creates."

Yugi pulled back from Yami's comforting embrace at that. "And fear is part of chaos, isn't it?" He narrowed his eyes. "That stupid...! He made me frightened just so he could taste...!"

"Probably," Yami agreed. He gave Yugi another quick squeeze, then let him go. "But, you are the first human I've ever heard of who confronted the Chaos Dragon and lived to tell the tale. Don't get too upset that you felt an entirely natural fear during the encounter."

"I suppose." Yugi sighed. He grumbled mentally at his own memory of the incident. He then shot a wondering look at Yami. He seemed – softer today, somehow. Perhaps unburdening himself even a little about what happened between him and his friend helped somehow.

"How did you sleep, my lord?" It seemed as if the Purple Knight sensed it, too.

"Like a – like a human, throughout the night without interruption." There was a faint note of wonder in Yami's tone.

"It makes sense, my lord, now that the Cold Shadows are fully under your dominion. I have been telling Yugi a few things about Shades, and the other creatures twisted through the Chaos Lord's power. Please forgive me that I also mentioned how your power over Shadows is ultimately used to help humans challenge and master their own darkness."

"Only that?" Yami asked casually. The tenseness around his eyes betrayed him.

"There is no need for me to elaborate upon what we spoke of yester-eve."

Yami let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Right. The sun is up, and we will make it to the edge of the Dragon Lands before nightfall, if we leave now."

A thought struck Yugi. It was the thought that had been niggling at his mind when they left the citadel. "Yami, can't you just 'shadow-walk' to the Dragon Lands? You shadow-walked us from the Shadow Realm into your library, across two reality realms, right? Staying in one realm would be easier, wouldn't it?"

The Purple Knight turned toward Yami expectantly. Yugi wasn't sure, but he thought he sensed deep amusement from the towering knight as Yami replied.

"You are right, it is easier to shadow-walk in the same realm. But, the Dragon Lands are under the control of a fellow lord..."

"One inclined to not be so 'kindly' toward my Lord Yami," the Purple Knight finished.

"Hey!"

The Purple Knight bowed hastily. "No offense, my lord!"

Yugi thought there was still quite a way to go for these two friends to reforge their friendship with each other, but at least Yami wasn't torturing his friend with exile or assault by shadows.

"Lord Seto would not look too kindly upon me just popping up within the boundaries of his land without some sort of advance notice," Yami finally admitted. "He most likely won't be happy to see me at all..."

"Lord Yami thought to vie against Lord Seto for the position of Lord of Dragons before becoming the Lord of Shadows," the Purple Knight supplied.

"Oh, that's the 'history' between you!" Yugi exclaimed.

"The start of it, anyway," Yami muttered. "In any case," He glared at his knight, then turned his glare on Yugi. "it would be – wiser – to approach on foot. So we don't take the Lord of Dragons by surprise. He tends to keep himself on a hair-trigger."

"What is blacker than a dragon?" The Purple Knight muttered so that Yugi could hear. "A shadow, of course!" Yugi snickered at that, catching the Purple Knight's subtle allusion to pots calling kettles black. The more he learned of the Purple Knight, and the closer he got to Yami, the more he liked each of them. Even if he accomplished nothing more as the 'Hero' of legend, bringing these two friends back into better accord with each other was a feat he was satisfied with.

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Shadows on Ice


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight – Shadows on Ice**

"I don't like this," Yami muttered. Unlike the day before, Yami and the Purple Knight flanked Yugi on either side, adapting their pace to Yugi's shorter stride. Never had anyone given Yugi this sort of consideration before, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"It does seem uncommonly quiet," the Purple Knight agreed. "How long have we been traveling in the Dragon Lands?"

"Nearly an hour. I would have thought that Seto would have met us at the border with a full wing of his fire-breathers, but..." Yami shrugged. "I don't know what to expect, now."

"Isn't he the Lord of Ice and Dragons?" Yugi asked.

"Yes. Oh, you mean about his fire-breathers? He is lord of all dragons, so he has access to all the elemental attacks through them."

"Wow." Yugi pondered the possibilities. "All the elements at his command... He's very powerful, then."

"Do not forget one important thing," the Purple Knight suggested. "Every dragon, even the Lord of Dragons himself, casts a shadow. My Lord Yami is the more powerful. He knows the inner darkness of any being that casts a shadow. If needed, he can evoke Shadows to mirror that darkness, in the form of a creature's innermost fears, as a potent attack."

"Yeouch!" Yugi glanced sidelong at Lord Yami and considered the implications of that power.

"Perhaps Lord Seto doesn't care to face such..."

Ironically timed to Yugi's words, dragons of all sizes, shapes and colors popped into being in the sky overhead, while others slithered snake-like and wingless upon the ground.

"Ah!" Yami smiled fiercely, while an unholy red light filled his eyes. "This is what I expect from the Lord of Dragons! He seeks to overwhelm my power with his dragons. Little does he know that this is nothing compared to the Cold Shadows I have honed my power against for so many, many years."

"Lord Yami!" A commanding figure stood upon the back of a great, winged, silver dragon. Long reins were clasped in the figure's left hand, while the right hand seethed with some sort of power. "I might let you retreat, like the cowardly dog you are, if you turn and leave now."

"Retreat?" Yami shouted up at the rider, who could only be Lord Seto. "Why should I retreat when I have the advantage?"

At his gesture, the shadow of the silver beast the Lord of Dragons rode reared up from the ground and bit on its own caster's tail. Lord Seto cursed as his energy shot went wild, striking and freezing a great tract of ground so he could maintain his balance by grasping his riding reins with both hands. A well-placed ice shot pinned his dragon's shadow to the ground. Unable to budge its own shadow, his silver dragon was likewise immobilized.

The Dragon Lord sprouted white leathery dragon wings of his own, and took to the air under his own power. Flanking him on both sides, as well as directly above and below him were dragon-winged humanoids. Thus protected, his shadow obscured and overlapped by others on the ground, Lord Seto called down to his rival again.

"What brings your cursed shadows here to darken my land?" Lord Seto demanded. "No matter. I won't permit you to invade here!"

He formed a giant, seething mass of energy between both hands and launched it at Lord Yami. Without a sound, the Purple Knight threw himself in the path of that energy, which instantly encased him in ice and froze him to the ground. Roaring, Lord Yami gestured, and the shadows of the Dragon Lord and his protective phalanx of drakes twisted together. In the air above, Lord Seto and his drakes collided with each other. Cursing wildly, Lord Seto unleashed a barrage of ice-bolt attacks, seeking to strike the Shadow Lord.

Laughing, darting in and out of every shadow cast upon the ground, and some of those cast upon the clouds in the air, Lord Yami taunted Lord Seto. Yugi wondered at his insane behavior before he realized that more often than not, Seto's wild ice shots immobilized one of his own dragons, instead of striking the teasing Shadow Lord.

Yugi could only stare in horror as one of the land-bound dragons dodged one those misguided shots – and the ice-bolt headed straight toward him. There was no time for him to try to dart out of the way, for the shot was a seething ball of blue-white energy thirty feet wide. He closed his eyes and wondered what it would feel like to be instantly frozen as the Purple Knight had already been. He didn't know for sure, but Yami didn't seem too upset that his Guardian Knight had been frozen. Yugi suspected that the Purple Knight would be okay once he thawed out again, but _Yugi_ was only flesh and blood, not a creature of Shadow as the Purple Knight was.

"YUGI!" The note of panic in Yami's voice deepened Yugi's fear that being hit by a bolt of ice launched by the Dragon Lord was a _very bad thing_. A moment later, he was abruptly pulled into someone's arms. The pull of gravity suddenly disoriented him, as did a curious fwapping sound.

"YUGI!" Yami's voice sounded tiny and far away. Yugi opened his eyes in surprise, and started violently. Arms closed around him restrainingly tight, and alien blue eyes, set in an entirely alien-seeming face, widened. That face shook from side to side as the creature cautioned Yugi against sudden movements. Yugi turned his head slowly, orienting on the ground that was receding further and further away with each wing-beat. He noticed how Yami stood next to a misshapen pile of ice, and shouted up at Lord Seto who hovered above him.

"He's only human! How dare you attack him like that?!"

"How is it _my_ fault that you brought a frail human along and failed to protect him adequately?" Lord Seto retorted.

"If _you_ hadn't attacked us, and frozen my Guardian, he would have been protected!"

"If _you_..." the rest of Lord Seto's statement was carried away by the wind as the creature carrying Yugi into the sky flew higher.

"They, uhm, like to argue, don't they?" Yugi ventured. For an answer, the creature pantomimed a big smile. Since it revealed a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth, it wasn't quite as reassuring as the creature probably intended. Hoping that it wasn't carrying him away to eat him, and Yugi suddenly wondered what the thing did eat, and why so many things (well, only two, but it seemed like a lot) seemed to want to eat him all of a sudden, Yugi thought it best to see about getting into the creature's good graces, somehow.

"Uhm, thank you from saving me. From that, uhm, ice blast. I think it might have killed me if it connected."

The creature locked its uncanny gaze on Yugi's eyes and nodded very deliberately. "You didn't want me killed?" Yugi asked softly. The creature shook its head solemnly. "Thanks." Yugi repeated. He looked down again, to find that the creature had flown them even higher. He noticed that the battle seemed to have wound down. There were still the bright bodies of dragons glinting in the sunlight, and the darkness of their shadows alongside them, but all activity seemed to have stopped. Perhaps Lord Yami and Lord Seto were still yelling at each other. Yugi noticed something, and in trying to see better, turned against the right arm of the creature flying with him. Obligingly, the creature banked to the right.

"Thanks," Yugi muttered absently. A few more of the mute requests to see the entire field showed Yugi something he thought was significant. "Lord Seto waited until we were past the villages before showing up." His glance darted into the creature's face. "Was that intentional?" A nod answered his question. "So, he cares for and protects the humans of his land, and isn't just the Lord of Dragons, right?" Another nod. "That's why you saved me. Lord Seto wasn't trying to hurt me with that attack, was he?" A shake of the head answered this question. "So, what now?" Yugi shivered. They were flying so high up the air had become quite cold.

The creature gestured with his sharp chin in the direction they were flying in. Yugi turned his head to look, and once again, the creature turned in his flight enough for Yugi to see. A giant castle, set into the very summit of a mountain caught his eye. "Lord Seto's castle, no doubt." Yugi sighed. "I hope it's not as creepy inside as Lord Yami's castle was!"

The castle didn't appear creepy. The creature flew them to what had to be a landing strip for the dragons, and set Yugi carefully on his feet before releasing him. Now that Yugi could see the creature properly, he was sure it was one of the drakes who had flanked Lord Seto after Yami unseated the Lord of Dragons from his mount. A little more than six feet tall, the drake, if drake it was, was covered in fine white scales that became larger and more plate-like across the torso. He appeared to have hands as dexterous as a human's, tipped with a dragon's claws. His leathery wings were like a dragon's, and white. The blue eyes were without pupils, but still seemed to house intelligence. The reptilian features of the face were sharp, and very hard to read.

"You are a – drake, right?"

"Yessss," the drake responded.

"You talk!" Yugi smiled. "Why didn't you speak before?"

"It'sss hard to talk while flying," the drake responded. The drake had an uncommonly soft voice, and pronounced sibilance.

"Thank you, again, for saving me," Yugi bowed slightly toward the drake. "I am Yugi. What is your name?"

"I am... I am the White Knight. I guard my Lord Ssseto," the White Knight responded. "And you do not introduccce yourssself fully. You are the Hero."

"I... How...? How did you know?!"

"Our Lordsss might be sssomewhat dim, but we Guardiansss are not, Hero. We recognizzze you."

"Why did you not bring him back to the ground once the fighting stopped?" Lord Seto demanded as he landed. The white dragon wings he'd flown in on disappeared once he stood on the stones of the landing-way.

"I wonder about that myself." Lord Yami landed after the Dragon Lord. Seto glared at him with a sour, disfavoring glance, then gestured. The wings of Shadow Yami wore disappeared.

"Perhaps my brother Guardian senses the same thing about Yugi that I do," a restored, and be-winged, Purple Knight suggested. His purple, armored wings disappeared at Seto's impatient gesture. The Purple Knight stumbled slightly, for he had not completed his landing before his wings were taken away from him.

"Seto...!" Yami's eyes gleamed red at the insult to his Guardian.

"Peace, my lord. I tarried too long before landing," the Purple Knight said.

Yami glared at Seto's smirk, but held his tongue. Ignoring the power-play between the lords, Seto's Guardian responded to the Purple Knight's observation. "Indeed, I do. Lord Ssseto, Yugi isss the Hero of legend. I can sssenssse it."

Lord Seto's gaze raked across Yugi with a nearly-physical presence. "So, you will abandon me?" Yugi sensed hurt under the accusation. Immediately the White Knight dropped to his knees and bowed his head respectfully before his lord.

"Of courssse not, my lord! It is my duty to guard you. But, Yugi isss the Hero. He can wield the power to break the hold of the Lord of Chaosss upon the land. That would make you Lord over all dragon-kind, and ressstore the onesss the Chaosss Lord has ssstolen from you."

Lord Seto shook his head. "Dreams and fairy-tales!" he snapped.

"It will mean nothing to you, but the power of the Well of Shadows, the only aspect of my power out of my reach aside from the Shadows the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos has stolen from me, has been broken. By the Hero's hand," Yami stated. "I now have complete dominion over the Cold Shadows."

"You mentioned them to me once..." Seto seemed thoughtful. "Shadows that you fought against, and couldn't control completely. But how could _this_ one have helped you with that?" Seto sneered.

For an answer, Yami summoned the Gloomblade. "He entered the darkest part of my citadel and found this."

"Is that – the Gloomblade?! You've been trying to find it for centuries!"

"It is indeed. Yugi found it for me."

Lord Seto stared at Yugi again, and shook his head. "The Hero? I can't..." A cunning smile crossed his face. "There is no way for the earthbound to leave my Aerie. Even your ability to walk through shadows is useless here, in the highest keep of my power. You will remain here tonight, while I think on all of this." Lord Seto turned and stalked toward the arch leading into the castle part of his Aerie. "Guide them to the guest rooms, Guardian. Let them rest, under guard, until evening."

– – – – –

They might have been under guard, but Lord Seto's hospitality was more than adequate. Lord Yami, Yugi, and the Purple Knight were guided to a suite of rooms that contained, among other amenities, lofty, airy ceilings, an enormous bathing pool, wardrobes filled with clothes to fit anyone, including drakes since many of the garments had slits for wings, and a surprising sense of peace and calm.

After his bath, Yugi wrapped up in a soft and fluffy robe, and padded barefoot out into the giant common room in their suite. He leaned his head against the frame of a window huge enough for a dragon to fly through and gazed out upon the land below. Dragons flew in and out of the Aerie without ceasing. Yugi was able to watch as some of them stooped to the massive flocks of herd beasts below, and selected their dinners.

"Thossse herdsss are kept sssolely to feed dragonsss," the White Knight told him. He approached the window himself to point down. "Dragonsss who feed upon flesssh are not permitted to take from any flocksss tended by human villagesss. Only the flocksss at the bassse of the Aerie."

"There are legends of dragons who feed upon human flesh," Yugi mused aloud.

The White Knight nodded. "Unfortunately, thossse legendsss are true." The White Knight turned a glance toward the Purple Knight.

"Speaking a human language tires him, and I am acquainted, more or less, with the facts. Permit me to elaborate," the Purple Knight asked as he stepped forward. Yugi nodded.

"Dragons are far more than animals, but still have some of the instincts of the predator. When injured, they seek solitude and easier prey. It is a sad fact that to such dragons, humans often appear as the easiest prey there is. Dragons that have tasted human flesh have the hardest time being satisfied with any other food. Lord Seto does not permit such behavior to continue."

"What happens to them?"

"They are brought here, and imprisoned for their own good. It takes years, sometimes centuries, but such dragons are rehabilitated and retrained to take only the food permitted them by the Dragon Lord. Only after he is satisfied that no lust for human flesh remains in them are they set free once more."

"It isssn't punissshment," the White Knight added.

"No, such incarceration isn't punishment, it's rehabilitation. Lord Seto has a deep understanding of his dragon subjects, and is concerned that they co-exist peacefully with the humans living in his land, as well."

"Doesn't he have human subjects?"

"No, no more than my Lord Yami does. Responsibility to humans, yes, but ruler-ship over them, no. Seto prevents dragons from running amok and harming humans. He also controls the destructive power of Ice, mitigating winters that would otherwise be too harsh for people living here, so far to the north, to survive. Some humans are drawn to the Dragon Lands. Some tend the flocks of the Aerie, or otherwise perform the duties of servants here in the castle, and others just like the way dragons appear in the sky. Some dragons are even friendly, and it's not unusual for dragons to befriend humans, or vice versa."

"So the humans who live here aren't subjugated against their will," Yugi mused.

"No. Humansss are permitted to leave the Dragon Landsss any time they want." the White Knight clarified. "Only dragonsss are watched by Lord Ssseto. Many are trusssted to leave, but they know their actionsss are watched closely by the Dragon Lord. Lord Ssseto can appear wherever a dragon isss in the blink of an eye."

"That's a power like Yami's ability to walk through shadows."

The Purple Knight nodded. "And his power is supreme, if he wishes to enforce it, here in the Dragon Lands, just as my Lord Yami's power would overwhelm even Lord Seto's if they were in the Shadow Lands." Yugi glanced from one knight to the other apprehensively. "What?"

The White Knight's face split into his disconcertingly fang-filled grin. "He worriesss that we will fall into dissscord over our lordsss and their powersss."

"Oh! Nothing of the sort!" The Purple Knight turned and buffeted the White Knight playfully on the shoulder. "Each serves his own lord, but we have a connection to each other even deeper than that."

"Oh?" Yugi looked from one to the other – imposing nine-foot tall purple armored knight with glowing purple eyes just barely visible through the slit in his visor, and the still-impressive six foot white-scaled drake who stared back at him with alien blue eyes. "I don't see..."

"A resssemblanccce?" The White Knight doubled over laughing. Even the Purple Knight chuckled.

"Let me say we are brothers by spirit, rather than blood. I suppose if Lord Yami commanded it directly, I would be compelled to attack the White Knight..."

"...and if Lord Ssseto commanded I would attack the Purple Knight..."

"...but barring that, we are far more alike than unalike. Despite our appearances."

Yugi nodded. Brothers by spirit? That made sense. It felt right. "Well, then. Even if I weren't before, I am most certainly now, very pleased to make your acquaintance, White Knight."

"The honor to ssserve the Hero is mine," the White Knight replied.

"Hmph. Still making friends, I see," Lord Yami stated. Yugi froze, and stared up into his faintly glowing red eyes with a stricken, nearly guilty air. Yami laughed. "It's okay! You are allowed to make friends other than me!" He laughed again and deliberately banged into Yugi shoulder to shoulder as he stepped past him to admire the view from the window.

Eyes wide with surprise, Yugi looked up at the Purple Knight. The knight nodded gravely, but Yugi definitely got the sense that he made Yami's stern Guardian Knight smile by making the Lord of Shadows laugh.

"You ssshould get dresssed," the White Knight suggested. "Lord Ssseto will be sssummoning you to dinner sssoon."

Yugi found his hand reaching toward a gray and black tunic in the closet. His own clothes were gone, sent down into the depths of the Aerie to be cleaned, the White Knight had told him. Before his hand closed upon the dark, tempting garment, Yugi realized he was in a slightly tricky social situation.

If he wore 'shadow' colors, it might be construed that he favored the Lord of Shadows, and the Lord of Dragons could take insult. There was something about Lord Seto that made him think that he better mind every "p" and every "q" in order to not offer anything that could be construed as an insult. But, if he wore blue, or white, colors which could be seen to 'favor' Lord Seto, Yami might be upset.

He never bothered to care about what he was wearing so much before, as long as it was comfortable, but now the choice seemed almost like a minefield. He finally settled on a dark green tunic, hoping that the color would be viewed as 'neutral' in the eyes of the two volatile lords.

Lord Yami smiled and raised an eyebrow at him when he appeared in the main room of their suite again. Yugi relaxed a tiny bit. One down, and one to go. The White Knight led them from their rooms through the castle the Aerie was constructed of, into a large dining hall. Lord Seto watched them cross the long room with hooded eyes.

"Your guests, my lord." The White Knight bowed, and stepped to a place just to the side and slightly behind his lord. The Purple Knight mirrored his position behind Lord Yami, leaving Lord Seto, Lord Yami and Yugi as the primary three in a small conversation group.

"Had I realized how ineptly Yami was protecting you, I would have been more careful that my attacks not threaten you," Lord Seto said by way of greeting.

"To translate, Seto is coming as close as he ever does to apologizing for _his _mistake," Yami said.

Dinner started as a tense affair, with both the lords vying for the upper hand in their evidently long-seated squabble. Once Yugi caught a glance that looked remarkably like an eye-roll from the White Knight, and the Purple Knight's answering shoulder shrug, he stopped worrying and began enjoying himself. By the end of the evening, he was almost certain that the animosity between the Lord of Shadows and the Lord of Dragons was mostly on the surface, almost as if for show. He suspected that underneath all their bluster and put-downs, Yami and Seto each actually admired the other – but each was too stubborn to recognize it, much less admit it aloud.

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – The Lord of Ice and Dragons (Seto insisted he have another chapter. Grrr!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine – The Lord of Ice and Dragons**

Yugi leaned against the railing and gazed at the land far below. It was still shrouded in shadows, even though the sunrise blazed bright enough just over his shoulder. He watched as the line of light marched across the ground, brightening it from dull gray-green to emerald. Clumps and dots of white moved in aimless patterns across the emerald field. Yugi knew they were the vast herd of sheep kept near the Aerie even though he was far too high to hear any sort of noise from them.

"You are up early," a voice said behind him. Yugi turned, and threw his arm up to ward the bright morning sunlight from his eyes. Dazzled, it took him a moment to recognize Lord Seto. The Aerie's lord stepped forward to look down upon the land as Yugi had.

Yugi turned and gazed downward again, too. "It's funny. At home, I'd still be in bed, trying to sleep if I could, until Mom chased me awake with a few well-placed ladle whacks."

"Not a morning person, then," Lord Seto observed.

"Not at all."

"Why so early today?" The question was couched in a bored tone, but Yugi somehow sensed that nothing Lord Seto did was without purpose.

"The suite we are in faces east. The sun just blazed in at more or less full force out of nowhere," Yugi explained. "Blinded me awake, actually."

"Hmm." There was a note of smug satisfaction in the tone, and Yugi turned sharply to gaze at his host. Sure enough, Lord Seto was smirking. Warned by this, Yugi wasn't surprised by the next question. "What did Lord Yami do?"

"Lord Yami," Yugi ground out in a tightly controlled, clipped tone that highlighted how upset he was, "turned away from the window, cursed, and summoned sufficient shadows to surround his bed and block the light. He didn't think to offer me the same sort of comfort."

Lord Seto laughed.

"Look." Yugi turned abruptly to face Lord Seto. "I don't know and don't care about whatever happened between you and Yami. Tease him and tweak him all you want – but you better not catch me again with one of your pranks in the process. And, you better not pull any of this sort of stuff when it matters. We can't have strife on our side when we are facing the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos."

Lord Seto looked down his nose at Yugi. Yugi felt vaguely ridiculous, and suddenly vulnerable. Lord Seto could pick him up and toss him off the edge, if he had a mind to. There wasn't anything Yugi could effectively do to stop him, and no one else around to interfere.

"You're not a pushover. And, you aren't slavishly devoted to Yami to the detriment of your own common sense. Two things I could not have learned so quickly without my 'prank'. Furthermore, you believe you are the Hero, and are taking such responsibilities seriously."

"It was – a test?"

"Not really. I just wanted to annoy Yami, but learning a few things about you 'in the process' is a satisfactory side effect."

Yugi growled just under his breath in frustration. He could see why Yami didn't much care for Lord Seto, if this was how he behaved.

"Stop glaring at me," Seto advised. He waved his hand in Yugi's direction. Yugi's mind twisted oddly, and his balance shifted. "A gesture to show my willingness to help the Hero – if you are truly he."

Yugi turned his head and realized he wore wings. He recognized the weird mental twist as some sort of magic to alter his perception so that he suddenly just 'knew' how to fly. The wings – his wings – were made of feathers like a bird's, a deep red color that changed to yellow on the trailing edge. Yugi turned his head from examining his wings to say something to Seto.

"Do see if you can keep up – Hero!" Lord Seto called in a mocking tone of voice from the space just in front of the railing. He floated a moment more on his white dragon wings before folding them and diving straight down.

_I can do that_, Yugi thought. He knew how to generate enough speed to gain the lift necessary to launch himself from a flat area, but that would give Seto too much of a head-start. Yugi climbed to the top of the railing, and threw himself into the dive instead.

The next half hour was pure exhilaration for Yugi. He followed and chased Lord Seto through many aerial maneuvers while laughing and playing in the wind. He now knew why the White Knight hadn't tried to speak when carrying him. Flying was hard work! Rewarding, but hard. It was difficult to project his voice enough to be heard even to his own ears, much less by someone else. There was no way with his very soft voice the White Knight could ever be heard while flying.

An intense hunger pang took him by surprise. He faltered in the air at the shock of it, then found the rhythm of his wing beats again. Lord Seto flipped over on a wing to turn and run an assessing eye over his flying comrade.

"You are not used to this, and you haven't eaten today. We must return to the Aerie, _now_. Follow me." Yugi noticed how the Lord of Dragons seemed to have no difficulty projecting his voice over the wind.

Suddenly the Aerie, which had been the rough center of all their wandering around the sky, seemed a million miles away. Yugi wasn't sure he could make it against the gnawing pain where his stomach was supposed to be, but the slightly disdainful look on Lord Seto's face sparked his determination. No way was he going to show any weakness in front of this arrogant lord!

A shadow crossing his face made Yugi glance away from watching, and following, Lord Seto. He was doing his best to try to draft off the Dragon Lord's flight. The White Knight grinned beside him, and pointed down. Seto's giant silver dragon flew just under him. Yugi realized that if his strength gave out, he would fall from the sky – but only as far as the dragon's back. Relieved at the concern of the Lord of Dragons, (for who else could have summoned the White Knight and the silver dragon?) Yugi still resolved to make it back to the Aerie under his own power.

It took all his concentration, all his will, and nearly all his energy, but he did. His landing was not going to be noted for grace, but it did efficiently deposit him on the solid landing platform of the Aerie where Seto led him. His wings disappeared and his mind did the peculiar shift to orienting him as a land-bound being again. From his impossibly tall height, Seto stared down at him.

Yugi suddenly realized the lord was trying to decide whether or not to lean over and pick him up. Yugi ended that dilemma by shakily scrambling to his feet. "That was fun! When can we do it again?"

Seto's expression cleared and brightened into the first genuine smile Yugi had seen on the Dragon Lord's face. "Perhaps a shorter flight, after you've eaten and the meal has settled," he replied gravely despite his grin.

A short while later, Yugi returned to the suite. Shadows still writhed softly around Yami's bed, and a faint snoring could be heard. Yugi looked over to where the Purple Knight stood watching his lord, or rather, the shadows around his lord, and rolled his eyes. Yami's Guardian shrugged his shoulders. Yugi waved his hands frantically in the shadows over Yami's bed. Obligingly, they thinned and parted so he could see Lord Yami.

Still deeply asleep and still snoring slightly, Yami looked somehow younger asleep than he did awake. The Shadow Lord was hardly scary at all flopped onto his stomach and hugging the pillow that cradled his head. Yugi looked over again at the Purple Knight. The knight nodded slightly, the gesture reassuring Yugi that the Guardian has his back – if needed.

"WAKE UP!" Yugi shouted, while taking hold of Yami's shoulder and shaking it roughly.

"Huh?! What?" Yami blinked in confusion and tangled himself into a glorious mess in the sheet that had been draped over his legs.

"Didn't think to let me sleep a little longer by sending some of your shadows to keep the light from _my_ eyes, did you?!" Yugi yelled. "No, no – as long as 'Shadow Lord Yami' can sleep peacefully, all is right with the world! It doesn't matter to you that I was bored and left alone to wander around – met Lord Seto, dove off a balcony, and spent the morning flying, and just ate a monstrous breakfast that would have given my poor mom a fit if she'd seen how much food I put away! As long as _you_ can sleep..."

"What? _What?! _Yugi – are you okay?!" Yami struggled to get up, but still tangled with his sheets only managed to fall out of the bed.

"Hmph!" Yugi turned and stalked over to where the Purple Knight stood.

"Are you unharmed, Hero?" the Purple Knight asked. "Perhaps I should have followed you, instead of attending to Lord Yami."

Yugi smiled up at the Guardian. "No, I'm fine. Just irked at Lord Dark-a-lot over there that he didn't think of me at all this morning. Although, if he had, I would have missed learning how to fly. Lord Seto made certain I was safe."

"You do have this talent for getting to the heart of things. And people," the Purple Knight noted softly.

"Pardon?"

"Just thinking aloud. Pay me no mind."

Across the room, Yami, still tangled in his sheets, tried unsuccessfully to stagger to his feet. He only managed to conk his head on the frame of the bed, and started muttering curses. The shadows swirled ominously in that part of the room, almost as if they were a gathering storm cloud.

"If you excuse me," the Purple Knight said. Yugi waved his hand toward Yami and managed to swallow his chuckle at the Shadow Lord's predicament. Yami had terrified him at their first meeting. Seeing him like this reminded Yugi that even though Yami was a lord, he was still just a human being – even if Yami didn't believe it of himself.

"By all means, help him before he erupts completely. I'll be downstairs. The White Knight is going to show me around the castle – and then I hope I might have a chance to try flying again."

Yugi did have that chance, later in the afternoon. Not surprisingly, Lord Seto forced Yami to remain land-bound until Yugi shot an impatient glare at him and said that as far as he was aware, he was supposed to be the Hero of legend and not the referee of idiotic feuds between the 'kindly' lords. Seto smirked and waved his hand in Yami's general direction, using his unique power to give Yami wings of shadow once more.

Hours later, pleasantly fatigued from the tour of the Aerie, and the physically demanding but rewarding rigors of flying, Yugi was ready to call it a day. He stumbled slightly on the way to his bed and found two sets of arms and a wave of shadows waiting to catch him. He laughed, a tired laugh, but a laugh nonetheless, and assured the Purple Knight and Lord Yami that he was fine – just tired – and would Yami please be so kind as to do something to dim the sun in the morning for Yugi, too?

Yami grinned and in preparation crafted a shadow curtain that covered the window. Exhausted, momentarily content, Yugi fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Ten -- The Lord, the Hero, and the ???


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten – The Lord, the Hero, and the Frostblade**

Yugi dreamed. He knew he was dreaming because even though amazing and unbelievable things had happened to him since starting his adventure, they had all contained the full color and vibrancy of life. The vision opening before him was colored only in hues of blue.

Vision? It was a nightmare. He was flying as a Chaos Storm formed around him. Spectral faces jeered and mocked him. They parted long enough to permit flying humanoids to join him in the air. At first Yugi thought they were Drakes, but unlike Lord Seto's subjects, these draconians had wicked protrusions of bone along their forearms and the leading edges of their wings, fangs jutting from their mouths, and lethal looking horns erupting from their foreheads. They started flying dizzying patterns around him. Yugi looked up just in time to stall a single wing-beat. The near-falter in the air saved him from a gash from a bone-bladed wing aimed at his throat. Somehow he managed to avoid the attacks that came at him from every side – in this dream possessing a skill at flying he didn't have in real life.

Still, his dodges became more desperate, and the attacks harder and harder to avoid. He was tiring, too. It was only a matter of time before he was hit. Yugi hoped being hit by one of these dream warriors in the nightmare he was sure had been sent by the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos would merely end the dream – and not also his life. He wasn't about to test the theory out, though.

That was when massive bolts of ice started tearing through the Chaos Storm. The ice bolts targeted the minions of Chaos surrounding him, beating them off of him. Yugi wasn't certain what impulse ruled his action when he reached out as if to catch one of the ice bolts, except that they had saved him from the evil flyers. As if summoned by his gesture, an ice bolt turned mid-air and came at him. The crystalline purity of its surface mesmerized him as it hurtled toward him. Just as the ice bolt hit, Yugi woke up.

At least he tried to.

Gone was the Chaos Storm and the winged minions of Chaos. Gone too was the hail of ice bolts that had driven them off. Yugi didn't see anything, anything at all – except a blue-white light all around him. He tried to move. He couldn't. Cold the likes of which he'd never felt seeped into his skin, through his flesh, into his bones, and from there, into his mind, his heart, his very soul.

Unable to move, unable to scream, unable to do the least thing to break this nightmare and free himself from his dream of being imprisoned in ice, all Yugi could do –

was freeze.

– – – – –

Seto snapped to full awareness at the White Knight's touch on his shoulder. "My lord, there isss a sssituation. One of your guessstsss..."

He groaned. "What has that idiot Shadow Lord gone and done?" he demanded.

"Not the Lord of Ssshadowsss. It isss the Hero," the White Knight replied.

"What?!"

– – – – –

Seto entered the hall to find both Yami and the Shadow Lord's Guardian Knight already there. Yami cradled a small puffball of a shadow monster in his arms, and stroked the creature's fur soothingly. Irritated, and using the irritation to cover his worry, Seto glared at the interloper monster.

"What is that, that – fur-ball doing in my Aerie?"

Yami was worried enough he didn't rise to the bait. "Shelleene is the shadow monster I found living in Yugi's blood."

"Hmph. What is it doing here? It should be at your citadel," Seto said.

"She's bonded to Yugi. I left that bond intact, so she could guard him when he was in my citadel, before the Cold Shadows were brought under my full control. I saw no reason to leave her behind when we left."

"Hmph. And – 'she'?"

"Don't tell Yugi the shadow in his blood is female. It doesn't mean a thing, but he's apt to get upset by it."

"As well he should," Seto commented.

"You might not want to be so smug, Dragon Lord. I can sense the shadow living in your blood. Shall I tell you of Kisar–?"

"Don't," Seto interrupted curtly. "We have far more pressing issues at hand. Where is Yugi? If that pile of useless fluff was supposed to guard him, why is it here?"

"You tell me, Dragon Lord." The tone Yami used mocked the title. "In my citadel, I was the only living being able to enter the Well of Shadows and emerge unscathed – until the Hero. Until Yugi. When he was compelled to enter the Well, Shelleene was pulled from his shadow and could not follow. Where in here would their bond of blood and shadow weaken so much that Shelleene could not stay with Yugi? Most assuredly, she wanted to."

An expression so blank it conveyed horror more accurately than any distortion of features could have crossed Seto's face. He shook his head. "The – Heart."

The White Knight blinked twice in surprise. "The Heart of Iccce? Are you sssure, my lord?"

Seto closed his eyes and stilled as he attuned his essential being with the external manifestation of the core of his power. He seemed to turn into a blue-white flash of energy, and disappeared.

"Where...?"

"The core of the Aerie growsss out from the top of the mountain. The cccentral chamber of the Aerie sssuroundsss thisss core. Only Lord Ssseto may enter. To all othersss, it isss death by freezzzing. Even we who are of cold blood cannot withssstand to be in the presssenccce of the Heart of Iccce. He goesss there."

– – – – –

Seto appeared in the chill chamber that was his refuge. Whenever the duties he filled became too much, and he had a moment to himself, he would retreat here, to the welcome quiet of this chamber, and bask in the comforting cold flowing from the Heart of Ice. To any other, even his Guardian, the White Knight, it would be unbearably cold, but to him, it was as refreshing and welcome as a soft breeze in the heat of summer. The Heart of Ice was the center of his Aerie, just as it was the core of his power. He couldn't be uncomfortable in the distilled presence of the very power that filled his soul.

What could make him uncomfortable though, was the image before him. Yugi was in the chamber – embedded in the Heart of Ice itself – and he appeared to have been frozen while in the midst of trying to scream. His wide unblinking stare somehow made Seto realize that though Yugi had wanted to scream, he hadn't managed it before being frozen solid.

The twist of sympathy coiling around his heart surprised him. Seto thought he had long since lost the ability to empathize with any creature who was not a dragon.

"The Hero, huh?" Seto closed his eyes against the pitiful vision and shifted back to the meeting hall where his 'guest' waited.

"He's there," Seto said. "Frozen within the Heart of Ice. Poor, dumb idiot."

"Is he – dead?" Yami asked.

"I don't know." Seto recalled the vivid impression he had that Yugi had frozen solid before being able to scream. Corpses didn't try to scream. "I don't think so."

"Take me there!" Yami demanded. "I was able to bring him out of the Shadow Realm with my power, perhaps I can extract him from your Heart of Ice."

"As much as it would please me to see you writhing in the torment just being in the chamber with the Heart of Ice would bring you, I don't think so. If you were to attack it, you could disrupt my power."

Yami blinked at him. "You think I would use this as some excuse to attack _you_? Are you...? This isn't about you! At all! I have to save Yugi!"

"You can't," Seto said flatly. "But..."

"'But' what?"

Seto cupped his chin and paced. "I have to wonder what drew Yugi to the Heart of Ice. It is not an area of the Aerie anyone would ever find wandering around on their own. Unlike your Well of Shadows there is no 'presence', malevolent or otherwise, in my Heart of Ice that would mesmerize him to seek it out. What if it wasn't the Well that put Yugi in the danger he found himself in at your citadel?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"While you were sleeping," Seto smirked at the other lord. "I had a chance to converse with our supposed Hero. He told me of his encounter with not only one of the Dark One's Shades but also the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, himself. What if it wasn't the Well at all, but the Lord of Chaos that put Yugi in that danger?"

"Hmm." Yami considered. "It is true that the Well of Shadows did have a malevolent sort of will, and it had one time before transformed a young adventurer to upset me, but there might be some wisdom in what you suggest, Dragon Lord. The Chaos Dragon has everything to lose if Yugi is successful."

"_If_ Yugi is the Hero, yes. Perhaps it is some machination of the Lord of Chaos that trapped Yugi in the Heart of Ice."

"If I can't rescue him – can you?"

Seto looked swiftly into Yami's face. Perceiving no mocking, only what appeared to be sincere concern for Yugi, Seto sighed. "I don't know. He might already be dead, and I can't tell since he's been frozen. Or he might be merely frozen, and not dead." Seto shook his head. "I've never entered the Heart of Ice itself before. It never occurred to me that I could. That you were able to enter the Well of Shadows, with no ill effects, makes me think I might be able..."

"Believe."

"What?"

"Believe that you can. Believe in your power. It's easy to see," Yami gestured around him, indicating the entire Aerie. "you believe in yourself as the Lord of Dragons. Do you believe in yourself as the Lord of Ice? If you are truly the Lord of Ice _and_ Dragons, you should be able to enter the Heart of Ice as safely as I entered the Well of Shadows."

Seto glared at him. "Assuming you are right, and I don't believe for a minute that you are – how would I then free Yugi?" Seto asked.

Yami shot him a lopsided smile. "How would I know? I'm the Lord of Shadows. I delved into the well of my own shadows to free Yugi from my citadel – perhaps you have to master your heart of ice to free him from your Aerie."

Seto rolled his eyes at the analogy. "Whatever. I can't let you best me. I'll find a way to retrieve the runt from his icy prison – if for nothing else to annoy you."

Sarcasm dripped from Yami's every word. "Oh, yes. That would annoy me greatly."

"Very well, then. I will accept your challenge." Seto disappeared in a sheet of blue-white energy as before.

"I think the only thing bigger than his ego is his pride," Yami muttered.

"Aren't they the same thing?" the Purple Knight asked.

"Yesss." The White Knight laughed.

– – – – –

Lord Seto reached a hand toward the solid wall of ice before him. He cursed that his hand trembled. He'd never thought to try to enter the Heart of Ice before. Steeling his resolve, he stopped the trembling in his hand, and dared to touch the surface.

It gave way before him. It offered just a bit more resistance than air, settling all around him with a familiar touch. It took him a moment, but he realized it reminded him of the comfort of the chamber he was somehow leaving behind, as he stepped into this previously unknown realm of ice. The feeling was even more potent here than in the chamber. He felt powerful, capable of anything. Positive feelings flowed all around him, reinforcing his sense of power and worth. Seto shook his head against the seductive lure of it.

He sensed that he could lose himself in this feeling, or at least lose all perspective. He was powerful, but not to the irresistible extent that this place sought to push him to believe. Seto nodded as he realized why – this was his element, after all, just as Yami had suggested. He was the Lord of Ice – so entering this Realm of Ice would increase his awareness of his own power.

Pushing the problem this realm could present in the future to his mental balance to one side, Seto regarded the only other occupant. He moved without difficulty in this place, and still bore the colors of life in his hand, and on the cuff of his sleeve, but Yugi still appeared to be frozen, and locked in varying shades of blue.

Seto circled the shorter man, puzzled as to what held Yugi in place as here he was not actually encased in ice. Yugi might not be held by anything, but still he didn't move – even so far as to not breathing – at least as far as Seto could see.

"What brought you here?" Seto asked aloud. Yugi didn't reply. Seto sighed. "I've no idea if you are really the Hero of legend, but..." Seto snorted. "I'm not sure I believe that there is a 'Hero of legend'. The people are protected, for the most part, by us. What would a Hero do that we cannot? You're nice enough, and quick to learn things, and it seems you have courage as well, but, with no powers, as we lords have, what can you do to stop the Chaos Dragon that we can't?"

Seto paced around Yugi's frozen form once more. He sighed deeply. "Still, I don't like seeing you like this. I'm not even sure if you can hear me. Yami told me he broke you free from the Well of Shadow's hold on you by wrapping you within his shadows. My power over ice manifests as attacks – the ice bolts I used earlier. I'm certain that would do far more harm than good, so I don't know what..."

Seto stopped. His chin lifted as a thought occurred to him. Ice bolts were baneful, but his power to gift anyone with wings was beneficial. He couldn't see how trying to use his power in that way on Yugi could hurt, even if it didn't do anything to help. He summoned the magic within himself, and dropped his hand to Yugi's shoulder. One part of his mind noted that Yugi's shoulder was not cold or frozen solid, even as the other part noticed colors other than blue flooding through the shorter man.

"Ah...?!" Yugi's aborted scream cut off short and ended in an odd questioning sound.

Seto laughed. "Welcome back, Yugi."

"Back? Where – are we?" Yugi looked around. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. You took it into your head to somehow find and make your way to the chamber of the Heart of Ice, the center of my Aerie, and contrived to get yourself frozen, too." Seto looked around at the blue-white lambence around them. "This is within the Heart of Ice. An Ice Realm, I suppose, mirroring Yami's Shadow Realm. Aside from us, it appears unpopulated."

Yugi pondered that for a moment. "That makes sense. Your dragons are the 'population' under your command – and Ice is your 'element'. It would have been rather icky if Yami's realm had been one of Blood, instead of Shadows, so I'm glad his population and element are the same."

Seto nodded. "We can try to figure out what all that means later. You aren't cold, are you?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, not now that you've freed me. Before that, though..." Yugi shivered at the memory.

"Best we get out of here, then, just in case," Seto suggested. Yugi nodded, and tried to follow as Seto led to the inner plane of the Heart of Ice that met with his hidden chamber. Seto could step through without difficulty, but to Yugi it was an impassible wall. Seto stepped back into the Heart, seized Yugi's hand, and tried to pull him through along with him, but Yugi's hand stopped once it reached the margin of the Heart of Ice. He was trapped. Seto crossed the margin back into the Heart. "Any ideas?"

"One," Yugi admitted softly. "But you aren't going to like it."

"Try me."

"Uhm..." Yugi looked up into Lord Seto's face and tried for a grin. It came out rather sickly. "Hurl an Ice Bolt at me?"

Seto stared at him. It took all his willpower to not gape. "You're right. I don't like it," he finally growled.

"I think it would have killed me before, while I was still frozen, or thought I was frozen, or whatever it was that trapped me and kept me from moving, and felt so very, very cold, but..."

"What makes you think you can survive it now that you aren't frozen?" Seto interrupted, mainly to stop Yugi from babbling.

Yugi glanced down and clutched both the pendant and the heartstone in the same hand. "I think it might be something one or both of them do that – protects me." Yugi turned pleading eyes up toward the Lord of Ice and Dragons. "We are here, in the Realm of Ice itself, and even though I was frozen before, you broke me free. I think – the only way for me to be able to leave, is to endure your direct attack. Yami broke me free from the Well's mind-control _before_ he tried to transform me into shadow with his power."

Seto started. This was the first time he'd heard this part of the story. His eyes narrowed.

"He didn't want to! He thought he'd have to, or else the Well would turn me into a Cold Shadow. I'd prefer to be Yami's Shadow than the Well's Cold Shadow, any day."

"I think you'd almost prefer to be Yami's Shadow than the Hero, any day," Seto noted snidely.

Yugi blushed. "Well, uhm, that is... Yami touched me directly with the element of his power, when he wrapped me in shadows. He told me they are an expression of the power within his soul. Your Ice Bolts are the same, aren't they?"

Seto replied. "Yes, but..."

Yugi shook his head to stop Seto's contradiction. "I think I have to be touched by that same power, your elemental power, to be free of your elemental place. That's all. I don't want to stay here forever. I'm open to suggestions, though."

Seto tried giving Yugi wings and pulling him through to the chamber outside the Heart of Ice, but that failed. He tried, vainly, to reduce the impact of the Realm of Ice, as he routinely reduced the impact of winter over his lands to help the people survive the harsh temperatures. He suspected that would be futile before he even tried, to lessen the cold in the Realm of Ice? He was not surprised to find that he was right – it didn't work.

Seto thought. He considered leaving to ask his White Knight and Yami for their input, but decided not to. The one was his Guardian. It would be unseemly for him to ask the White Knight for help. The other was his rival. He wouldn't give Yami the satisfaction of knowing that he needed help – when Yami had not. No other application of his power seemed to work. Yugi's suggestion seemed the only way.

"Okay," Seto announced after what seemed to Yugi an eternity of deliberation. "It's on you if I kill you by mistake."

Yugi grinned at the grumbly Lord of Ice and Dragons. "Yeah, but I think I'll be safe. No, I _know_ I will be safe."

"How?"

"A feeling."

Seto growled. "You better really be the Hero of legend, Yugi Mutou. If you aren't, and this should kill you, I will never forgive you."

"Deal!"

"Why are you so damned cheerful about this?"

"Because you are finally doing something that will get me out of this place. It's boring, and I'm hungry."

Seto laughed. "Fine, 'Hero'. Do you need to prepare?"

"Nope. I'm good to go, ready whenever you are," Yugi replied cheerfully.

Shaking his head as he walked away from Yugi, Seto had to damp down his alarm that he was about to direct his most devastating attack at an unprotected human. He mastered his internal struggle, turned, and sent an Ice Bolt speeding unerringly toward Yugi.

He couldn't see what happened next, as his own Ice Bolt was in the way, but a great blue-white light flashed in the Realm of Ice momentarily blinding him. When he could see again, the last of the blue-white radiance rested across Yugi's hands, and seeped into the blade lying across his palms.

"I'm pretty sure this is yours," Yugi said quietly.

The sword in Yugi's hands fell to the ground in a clatter when he realized how fiercely Seto was glaring at him. The Lord of Dragons' intent regard hit Yugi with an almost physical force. "If you _ever_ force me to do anything like that again, I will make you regret it." The fact that the statement was issued in an icy near-monotone made it even more threatening than if it'd had been shouted.

"Now that we have your Frostblade," Yugi knelt to pick it up. "I should be able to leave this Realm. What say we try it?" He handed the sword to Seto and dared to grin up at the Lord of Ice and Dragons' threat.

With a sigh and another half-hearted glare, Seto accepted it. "For the record, I didn't want this fancy knick-knack. Not given what it took to get it."

"Good thing I'm the Hero then, and it fell to me to claim it for you!" Yugi replied.

Seto stared at him. "You're right. It's a good thing you are the Hero." It was the first time the word has passed Seto's lips without some sort of mocking in the tone.

"And this Hero is starving!" Yugi complained. He couldn't help but pause and slow down as he approached the margin of the Realm of Ice, but this time it permitted him to pass. "I'm so glad that is over!" His arms crept up to hug his shoulders against the chill in Seto's chamber.

Seto nodded. That was how it was supposed to be. He abruptly leaned into his power to lessen the chill in the room so that it wouldn't give Yugi frostbite, and, for the first time ever, was able to mitigate the cold in this room. He glanced at the Frostblade in his hand, and realized that it signified an increase in his power. Perhaps it had been needful to claim the thing, after all.

"There's the door. We can get to the dining hall –eventually – if you go to the right," Seto said.

Yugi grinned. Seto looked so somber. "Do you ever fly in the castle?" he asked with a wink.

Truth be told, Seto did. It was not something he did often, mostly in emergencies, and only rarely for fun since it could be dangerous if people were walking in the corridors, but... He was feeling a bit reckless and had to burn off nervous energy anyway. The many corridors between here and the dining halls should be mostly clear anyway. He waved a hand at Yugi, giving him wings.

"Follow me!" Seto tossed behind him as he tore off down the corridor on his white dragon wings.

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Eleven – The Lord of Fire and Warriors


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven – The Lord of Fire and Warriors**

Yugi considered belting Yami one in the face. If he thought Yami's Guardian, the Purple Knight, would let him, he might actually try it. Yami's shadows had snared him from the air and pulled him into Yami's embrace as soon as he flew into the dining hall. Lord Seto has snickered at that, then shown the Frostblade to _his_ Guardian Knight. Yugi had finally gotten Yami to stop hovering all over him, but couldn't seem to get the Lord of Shadows to leave him alone.

Pools of shadows danced upon the floor wherever he walked. Eyes stared at him with unblinking gazes from every shadow on the wall. And Yami made every excuse in the book, then some, to prevent Yugi from leaving his sight. Yugi had finally appealed to the Lord of Ice and Dragons, as the ruler of this realm, to override Yami's power with his own so that Yugi could attend to a call of nature without the Lord of Shadows spying on his every move. Seto was only too happy to oblige.

Yugi was touched by Yami's concern, he really was, but it was so stifling! Besides, the Pendant of Pharaoh, or the Hero's Heartstone, or perhaps both, had kept him safe. It's not as if Yugi had been in any more danger than when he'd been in Yami's Shadow Realm – less actually, since Seto's Ice Realm hadn't been populated by evil spirits of Ice, or Cold Dragons, or something nasty like Yami's Shadow Realm had been. Yami hadn't been pleased when Yugi pointed this fact out to him. He had stopped hovering over Yugi – but only until Yugi's Pendant started glowing again, indicating the next leg of their journey. Not surprisingly, it pointed South, toward the lands under the keeping of Joey, the Lord of Fire and Warriors.

Once they left the Aerie, Yami started behaving like such a mother hen that Yugi was quickly reaching the end of his patience. Lord Seto's smirk did nothing to help Yugi's temper, either. He was ready to try to ditch both lords and go it on his own if they didn't stop it – and soon.

That was when the ground at his feet decided to spit a fireball at him.

"Gah!" Yugi yelped as he dodged sideways.

"Oh, goody. We've made it to the Flame Marsh," Seto noted drily.

"The Flame Marsh?"

"The Lord of Fire and Warriors' domain is harsh, and only sparsely populated. The reason is the ground itself is highly unstable. If not for the seaport, there would be no reason for there to even be a lord here," Seto explained.

"Flame Haven, the port itself, is well-populated," Yami contradicted mildly.

"Only because the ground there doesn't belch fire," Seto countered.

"Lord Joey uses the natural harshness of his land as the first test of worthiness for his warriors." Yami turned toward Yugi, evidently deciding to ignore Seto. "A prospective warrior has to make it to the Lord of Fire's Warrior Stronghold under his own power. The Flame Marsh changes all the time, so there are no reliable maps showing the safe path. Indeed, there are times there are no 'safe paths'."

"Couldn't we just fly there?" Yugi asked, watching as the ground spit another gout of flame into the air.

"It's a sign of respect to the Lord of Fire and Warriors if we manage it on foot," the Purple Knight replied.

Seto snorted. "Respect!"

"My lord..." the White Knight's voice carried a hint of disappointment.

"I can't be happy to be forced to thread the needle of this hellish place just to speak to the dimwitted Lord who rules here!" Seto flared on his own.

"It can't be helped. I'd rather shadow-walk us all to his doorstep myself, but he's just as hot-tempered as..."

"...as his idiotic Flame Marsh?" Seto finished.

"I was going to say 'as you are' but that works, too." Yami winked at Yugi, then reached to take Yugi's hand.

Yugi flared on his own at the presumptuous Shadow Lord. "Leave me alone, Yami! I'm not a child – and I won't tolerate being treated like one!" Yugi stalked off, following the glowing side of his pendant.

"Can you believe him?!" Yami groused. "All I'm trying to do is keep him safe! How dare he...?"

"Yami," Seto interrupted.

"What?!"

"You might want to jump."

"What?"

"You're standing on a ..." Seto paused. The ground beneath Yami erupted into flame.

"Gah!" Yami jumped just in time, narrowly avoiding getting singed. "You might have warned me!"

"I tried." Seto smirked at him. "Yugi has a point. You might want to tend to yourself before trying to keep him safe. He _is_ the Hero, after all." Seto jumped to one side as the ground to his left gouted fire. "Shall we follow our Hero so we can do whatever his pushy pendant wants him to do and get out of here as soon as possible?"

"Before this place melts the cool you are maintaining on your temper, eh, Lord of Ice?" Yami smirked at Seto. Seto growled and would have lunged at him, but the White Knight pulled him back, just in time to save him from another gout of flame.

"I take it back. With how this place smells, the land isn't belching at us, it's farting." The White Knight hooted his strange laugh appreciating his lord's humor. Yami tried to maintain a severely reproving expression, but as soon as the ground ripped another fire-gout into the air with a very appropriate sound, he laughed, too.

"We'd better hurry before Yugi goes out of sight," Yami finally suggested.

– – – – –

Yugi hadn't gone too far. A massive circular area, that seemed free of the burps and belches of fire from the ground, was serving as the arena for two knights. Yugi watched entranced as the two knights sparred one another.

They were magnificent. Each bore full plate armor, but each seemed gifted with beyond human strength and grace to move easily in it. Their movements seemed so fluid it was as if they were dancing instead of sparring. Only the occasional ring of sword on sword, shield, or armor and the grunts of two men trying their darnedest to beat the other, suggested this was more of warfare instead of art.

One of the knights bore gleaming gold armor, and a massive sword the blade of which was easily double the length of any blade Yugi'd seen before. This knight didn't bother with a shield, using his weapon for both offense and defense. Yugi's wrists hurt just watching as the knight accepted crashing blow after crashing blow on his sword.

The other knight wore bright red armor, grasped a red longsword in his right hand, and defended himself with a red shield bearing a stylized flame device. The gold-helmeted knight turned his head enough to realize they had an audience, and rained a flurry of blows that broke through the red knight's sword defense to ring against the red knight's shield repeatedly. Under that barrage, the red knight finally dropped to a knee, signifying acceptance of his defeat.

Only a moment after beating the red knight so soundly, the gold knight stood in front of Yugi. Up close Yugi suddenly realized how bulky, and heavy, the full suit of armor had to be, and further realized how he stood completely unprotected before this example of knightly excellence. He had no way of knowing if the aggression he'd just witnessed was confined to only the knight in red. Belatedly he realized the knights might think he was trespassing – and take offense. Shifting his eyes slowly to the left, away from the imposing gold-clad warrior, revealed nothing that suggested there was any sort of escape.

"Hey!" The word echoed oddly in the suit of armor. A gleaming armored arm reached up to undo some sort of catch under the chin, and pull the gold helmet from a nearly equally gold head of hair. The face revealed once the helmet no longer obscured it was young, open, and confident.

"Aren't you a little short for the Hero?"

"Uhm... Er...?"

"Yeah, pal, I can tell you're the Hero," the gold warrior tossed a cocky grin Yugi's way.

Not quite trusting the accolade so easily from someone he hadn't yet proved it to, Yugi made a puzzled sound deep in his throat without really meaning to. The gold knight laughed.

"Believe it. My skill lets me just know it."

"I'm not going to have to fight you, or go on some quest, or otherwise prove that I'm the Hero?" Yugi asked in a small voice. Such trust seemed unreal given everything he'd already been through.

"Well..." the gold knight dragged out the syllable. "I admit, I had thought about having you prove yourself, by making it to the Stronghold on your own, or forcing you to fight your way through a standard tournament, before you could talk to me, but... What's the fun in that? I'm gonna guess ol' Gloomy and ol' Doomy already put you through your paces – so I don't have to."

Yugi only nodded.

"So, what's say we set all that silliness aside, and just go eat the feast I've got all set back at the Stronghold for you? I'm famished from sparring with Red over there. Oh! I'm sure you've figured it out, but I should formally introduce myself. I'm Joseph, the Lord Champion of Warriors and Fire." Incredibly enough, the knight not only managed a deep, flamboyant bow, complete with an unnecessary flourish, but managed to make it look graceful. "You can call me 'Joey'," he added with a wink. "Come on over, Red, and introduce yourself to the Hero."

The red knight also undid the clasp to his helmet as he walked over, so that Yugi could see his bare face. This knight had white hair, but some timeless quality to his features and demeanor didn't make it seem as if it was that color from old age. The knight in the red armor bowed low toward them.

"It is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of the Hero. I am the Red Knight, Akai."

Yugi shook his head as a sudden dizziness overtook him. Somehow, reality seemed far too fluid, and uncertain...

A flash of purple under his chin caught his eye. He reached up and clutched the Hero's Heartstone in his hand. The dizziness abruptly passed. "Aka-i?" he repeated uncertainly. He had the oddest feeling he somehow knew... But, he didn't recognize the knight, and the name itself was unknown in his far to the east lands.

"N-no. The Red Knight. Such things as personal names have no meaning to one of the Guardians," the Red Knight stammered.

"O-okay."

Yami and Seto, followed by their attendant Guardians, still bickering with each other, and still dodging gouts of flame from the ground, finally appeared. As they approached Yugi, Joey, and the Red Knight, Joey nudged Yugi in the ribs none-too-gently with his armored elbow. "Ol' Gloomy and ol' Doomy! Am I right?"

Yugi smiled, even as he rubbed his bruised side, somehow not only liking, but instinctively trusting, in this third 'Kindly Lord'. "Well..."

– – – – –

After the promised feast, Yugi watched the matches in the vast practice field attached to Joey's Warrior Stronghold. The stronghold itself was a wonder, a massive castle set in the middle of the Fire Swamp. It was divided in two; one side serving as the central armory and barracks for his proven Warrior Knights; while the other housed the many young men and women vying to prove their worth to Joey, the Lord Champion of Warriors, seeking to become one of his Knights. Set between both halves of the castle was a gigantic tower, easily twice the height of any other feature of the structure.

"How does one prove to be worthy to be a Warrior Knight?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"One displays the knightly virtues, and shows a willingness to work hard refining individual combat skills," the Red Knight replied. Yugi whirled. He hadn't realized he had company. "I didn't mean to startle you!"

Yugi looked up into the Red Knight's face. There was still something – odd – about Joey's Guardian, that somehow made the hackles at the nape of his neck stand up. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he would work at it until he figured out why this Guardian, unlike the other two, made him so uncomfortable.

"Is that all there is to it? Just – being knightly and working hard at it?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"Not all, but the core of it. One does have to have some aptitude for combat. There are those who make their way here, train to the best of their ability, but still fall short of becoming one of the Warrior Knights. Even though they weren't quite able to grasp the prize the tried so hard for, their training here makes them prized for their combat skills when they return home. To fail at earning the right to be a Warrior Knight of the Stronghold is not a complete tragedy."

"It won't hurt you to take part," Yami said as he, along with Seto, Seto's Guardian, and his own, approached the practice field. Evidently, they'd been arguing.

"You're an idiot. As is Joey for thinking this up. We are the other two lords. His peers, at the very least! What need have we to prove ourselves?" Seto sneered. Both he and Yami walked over to stand near where the Red Knight and Yugi gazed at the various matches on the practice field. "It would be stooping to his level."

"If you are so sure you aren't up to the challenge," Yami began while tossing a very obvious wink toward Yugi. "I'm sure Joey will permit you to forfeit."

Seto drew himself up to his full height. "Forfeit?" he demanded. His eyes narrowed. "I don't _ever_ just quit!"

"Then accept the challenge!" Yami said. "It's not like I don't have to prove myself, too."

"If both of us refused..." Seto began.

"Then I'd know both my fellow lords are either craven or don't take me seriously," Joey interrupted as he neared the group.

"Bravery has nothing to do with it," Seto stated. "We don't take your seriously."

"Speak for yourself," Yami added immediately.

"What's going on?" Yugi asked.

Joey grinned at him. "I thought to ask my _fellow lords_," He stressed the two words. "to join me on the practice field and show me what they are made of – as warriors – and not just as lords."

Yugi's answering grin at the thought confirmed Yami's willingness to take part. "That would be cool to watch. That is, if it's... Well, I'd hate for anyone to get hurt..."

"A special enchantment had been placed over the practice field ages ago – long before even I became the Champion Lord of Warriors..."

"Lord of Warriors," Seto amended.

Joey decided to ignore Seto's interruption. "...no one is ever injured on the practice field, so it's a great place for not only warriors to practice, but for me to assess warrior skills." Joey eyed his fellow lords with a sour glance. "I've crossed steel with Yami – not as a lord, but as a warrior would – but that was years and years ago. Who knows if his skills are still there – disused for so long? And as for Lord Dragonbreath, we've only ever clashed against each other as the lords commanding the forces under us. For all I know he's all dragons and ice and can't hold his own in a non-magical battle."

Seto growled. Joey laughed.

"I'm willing to spar against you," Yami told Joey. "I wager you'll find my skills not at 'disused' as you suspect."

"Awesome!" Joey grinned at him. He donned his golden armor with just a thought. Holding his now-gauntleted hand out toward Yami clad his opponent in equally impressive inky-black armor. "A dark knight comes to challenge the Champion Lord of the Stronghold!"

Seto rolled his eyes at Lord Joey's melodrama. Yugi's eyes were riveted to Yami's now steel-protected form as Yami swung his arms and took a few steps to get used to the new feel of the armor.

"It's light enough to move in." Yami's voice boomed from within the armor. The Purple Knight approached and lifted Yami's visor. "Thank you. How is it...?"

"It'd hardly be fair to have an advantage over you, aside from my actual combat and sword skills, that is, from the get-go. Giving you appropriate armor and the strength and skill to use it is just one of my lordly powers. Should we see how you fare?" At Joey's gesture the Red Knight handed over a sword. Yugi noticed it wasn't the insanely long one Joey had used before, this one appeared to be a mundane longsword. Joey shook his head minutely when the Red Knight offered a shield. To Yami he suggested, "use your Gloomblade."

"But..." Yami began in alarm. Joey's sword was a normal, standard sword, and the Gloomblade a highly mystical one – further he hadn't discovered all the Gloomblade's abilities. He'd hate to trigger a power in the midst of a more-or-less friendly sparring session, and potentially hurt Joey.

"Relax. None of its powers will work unless you really will for them to while on the field. Unless you concentrate for it to be more, even the Gloomblade will be just an ordinary sword out there." Joey pointed to the practice field. "I'm not about to give you even a moment to concentrate on anything!" Joey shot a cocky grin Yami's way before becoming more serious. "Still, you should use it, so you can get used to how it feels and balances as a normal, non-magical sword. We are soon to confront the Chaos Dragon, and we have no idea the extent of his powers. Denying us the use of our mystical abilities might be one of them."

"Good point," Yami admitted. Even Seto looked thoughtful at that.

– – – – –

After sparring with Joey for as long as he could manage, Yami succumbed to Joey's superior battle skill and found himself battered to the ground under a rapid hail of blows. The Purple Knight helped Yami to his feet. Joey extended his hand in what appeared to be a simple handshake. Given how the watching warriors stilled, though, it seemed to be something more. "I can't accept you as a Warrior Knight as I would do with one of my own," Joey looked around at the audience that had gathered to watch them spar. "because that would put you under my say-so, since I am the Champion Lord of Warriors. But you just displayed all the skills necessary to be a Warrior Knight. That skill in you I can admit."

"But... I lost." Yami said.

Joey smirked at him. "Everyone loses against me. I'm the Champion Lord of Warriors. The only one who will win against me is the one who takes that title away from me – the next Lord of Warriors. Until then, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, I'm the best." Joey smirked, turned, and struck a heroic pose. "Now, Lord Seto, are you really going to forfeit?"

Seto growled. There was no way he was going to forfeit with the entire population of the Stronghold watching. Joey smirked again, extending his hand toward his rival. The armor that suddenly encased Seto was white.

"Cool!" Yugi exclaimed.

"What?" Seto demanded, as Yugi's eyes were fixed on him.

"Oh, you can't see the details. Your armor appears to have scales, and, er... well, maybe fins?" At Seto's dubious look Yugi clarified. "It's not weird-looking – it looks like dragon armor!"

"Of course. That's why Yami's armor was black and shadowy. I don't choose the armor's appearance. It magically suits itself to the wearer," Joey explained. "But I'm not concerned about explainin' how my magic works, right now. I want to see how Lord Dragonpants handles himself in a fight without his magic."

Seto lifted the visor of his helmet at the insult and glared at Joey for a full minute. Joey laughed. "A sword fight, Seto, not a staring contest!" Seto dropped his visor, and gestured for his Frostblade. The White Knight handed it to him, and bowed.

Just a few minutes later the White Knight was helping his lord up from the practice field. "And the point of that was...?" Seto spat out at Joey.

"Proving my worth to the Hero," Joey grinned. "Oh, don't get all upset! It was also to see what I could safely do to enhance your fighting skills, too. Quite a bit more than I thought, it turns out." Seto looked slightly mollified at the near-compliment. It was only after Joey smirked at him that he realized it could be an insult, too.

– – – – –

"How do I get myself into these situations?" Yugi wondered. He faced a warrior in green and gold armor and held a sword in his hand. Despite Joey's magic enabling him to wear it, the armor felt uncomfortable. It wasn't that it was too heavy, or too hard to move around in, even though he knew it should be, it's that he felt like he was playing dress-up. He had no right to wear the armor of a warrior!

The sword in his hand was an equally unfamiliar burden. Evidently the eastern lands that were his home weren't as wild as these ones to the north, south, and west, or perhaps it was just that he was caught up in a world so completely different than his own. Maybe there were more modest people with more modest lives and skills in these lands, too, but being in the company of the Kindly Lords and on the adventure of the Hero made it so he didn't get to meet them.

He tried to lift his sword to deflect the attack of the other warrior on the field. He did, but caught it upon the flat of his blade which stunned his hands.

"Twist the blade when you catch someone's weapon like that, Yuge," Joey shouted the advice from the sidelines. "You won't feel it in your arms as much, and by sliding their blade along yours, you throw them off-balance."

Yugi nodded tightly under his gleaming silver helmet. Helpfully, his opponent came at him with the very same attack. It took him a moment to figure out how to turn his wrists to twist his blade, but once he did, it was as Joey said. The green and gold warrior staggered a step toward the left. Yugi took that opportunity to twist his blade the other way in a sweeping undercut that the other barely managed to catch on his sword, instead of letting Yugi's blade hit against his armored leg.

"Good!" Joey called. "You're getting the hang of this!"

Yugi's sparring session was quite a bit different than Yami's and Seto's had been. First of all, even though Joey magically garbed him in armor (bright silver, for Yugi) Joey didn't face him as his opponent. He said he could tell with how Yugi carried himself that he'd never trained in the combat arts. As such, it would be unfair for Yugi to go up against the Champion Lord of Warriors for his first match. Besides, if Joey watched, he could tutor Yugi from the sidelines. Waving a hand, Joey had beckoned one of his armored warriors over to serve as Yugi's opponent, instead.

Curiously, as the fight went on, Yugi's skills improved – dramatically. He finally held up one hand mutely asking his opponent to pause. Immediately the other's sword tip dropped, pointing to the ground. A nod of the helmeted head granted Yugi a break.

Yugi strode to the sidelines where the three Kindly Lords watched. That action almost gave him pause. He never 'strode' but it seemed the only way to walk in armor.

"Lookin' good, Yuge! Why'd ya stop?" Joey said as Yugi approached.

Yugi lifted his helmet and narrowed his eyes at the Lord of Warriors. "What are you doing?"

"Wha–?"

Yami looked from Yugi's face to Joey's. "What do you mean, Yugi?"

"He's doing something – with his power – to me," Yugi stated.

"Of course I am. Once you do something right, I'm locking it in place for you. That's what my power does with Warrior Knights," Joey replied. He shrugged. "What's the problem?"

"It's not fair," Yugi said.

"Fair?" Seto asked.

"It's not fair to the others – the real warriors!" Yugi turned to point toward his sparring partner, and found that the man had followed him to the sidelines and stood right behind him. Others were approaching, too, to find out what was going on. Yugi dropped his voice so that the other warriors couldn't hear him challenge their lord. "Why should I get special treatment? Why don't I have to prove myself worthy, and learn the skills the way they do before you enhance them?"

Joey opened his mouth, but the reply came from behind Yugi.

"You are the Hero," the green and gold armored warrior said in a calm voice. "You need the skills and don't have the time to spend months here learning them."

"Yeah, pal. What he said," Joey nodded. "We talked it over once I knew you were coming here. Actually, the suggestion to help you like this came from them." Joey nodded to where all his warriors, both the proven Knights and those who still trained, surrounded them in a circle.

"But, it's not fair!" Yugi said.

Joey smiled. "It's not for you – or me – to determine what's 'fair' in this case. Yugi, just as some of Yami's power comes from his Shadows, and Seto's from his Dragons, mine comes from my Warriors. They want me to do this for you – and their will gives me the power to do so. If I go against their wishes in something important like this, I risk losing their faith in me – and that's not something I'm willing to do. Not even for the pride of the Hero."

Pride? The word made Yugi pause. Was that all it was? It didn't seem fair that he was to be given something that others had to earn, and work so hard for. Something that some of them would never quite be worthy of, no matter how hard they tried, if what the Red Knight told him was true. Maybe there was some pride in it. He didn't think he would mind this – augmentation – of his skills if they were ones that he had actually worked for. If he'd earned the right to the touch of the Lord of Warriors' power.

"But..." Yugi started to protest, again.

A gauntlet-clad hand dropped to his shoulder. Yugi looked up, into the earnest and serious eyes of one of Joey's Warrior Knights. "A warrior, even one who is not a Warrior Knight, recognizes another. That you haven't trained as a warrior before doesn't make you less of one. It is only right to give you every advantage in your fight against the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos."

There was that. Yugi knew it, but his mind kept shying away from it. He didn't mind learning how to fight. He just didn't want to think too long on why he was learning such an unfamiliar skill. He still, even after everything that had happened, couldn't quite believe that he was the Hero of legend. The Hero had responsibility – to everyone in the land, and he wasn't sure he was up to the burden. He didn't want the burden. Joey's magic brought him one giant step closer to assuming it. Yugi sighed.

"Hero," the Warrior Knight called softly for his attention. "All of us agree that you need whatever abilities our Lord Joey can enhance in you. Once you've defeated the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, if you so wish, you can return here and train with us to prove to yourself that you deserve those abilities. _We_ know it, but if you must make things hard on yourself – we are only too happy to oblige. There's nothing we like more than a good sparring session!" All throughout the Warrior Knight's speech, the others, full Warrior Knights and those yet in training, nodded their agreement.

Yugi hadn't fought against Yami when the Shadow Lord pulled a guardian shadow from his blood. He hadn't complained to Seto when the Dragon Lord gave him wings and taught him to fly. It wasn't fair to Joey, or his knights, to fight against the Warrior Lord like this. Perhaps it was because he knew it normally was a merit system, and he felt he didn't earn it. But, in the face of their earnestness, the best thing would be to give in.

No – the best thing would be to accept their gracious gift, defeat the Chaos Dragon, and come back here, as suggested, and prove to himself he'd been worthy of the gift all along. "O-okay."

"Excellent!" Lord Joey beamed. "But, I'm not happy with your weapon. You're short, so learning the sword puts you at a reach disadvantage. What to teach you, though..." The Red Knight approached with a staff in either hand. Joey grinned. "Perfect!" He looked up to the warrior who had been Yugi's sparring partner. "Can you fight with a staff?" The man nodded. "Good! We are all set then!"

Somehow this change made things easier for Yugi. Perhaps it was that Joey's knights told him this was their decision. Perhaps it was that he was learning how to use a common staff, a weapon anyone could afford and use, instead of the more knightly sword. Perhaps it was a combination of both. He appreciated the patience extended to him by his sparring partner. The man would start by telegraphing his attacks very broadly, allowing Yugi's natural ability to lead him in the right direction to avoid, deflect, or parry the hit. He would then repeat the same attack at slightly faster speeds, or after a feint, so that Yugi felt he was learning it on his own – before Lord Joey's skill enhanced it magically within him. By the end of the day Yugi was exhausted, but he felt, a tiny bit, as if he'd earned his fighting skills, despite the magical augmentation by the Lord of Warriors.

"Thank you," Yugi said to his sparring partner, after he removed his helmet. The knight in green and gold likewise removed his helmet. Yugi gasped.

"No, thank _you_, Hero," Celedor grinned broadly at him.

"Celedor!" Yugi forgot he was still wearing armor until it crashed chest to chest with Celedor's in his attempt to embrace the elven warrior.

Joey laughed before removing both sets with a mystic wave of his hand. "I guess you know each other."

"Hero," a soft voice interjected as Yugi pounded Celedor on the back in greeting.

"Vialla! You're here, too?"

"How better to bring my skills of healing to those who need it most than to understand the ebb and flow of battle?" Vialla replied.

"She is learning defensive tactics, only," Celedor supplied. "Even though I've urged her to pick a weapon and learn how to..." Vialla shook her head. "She's stubborn, but her skills of healing will be helpful in battle. With her training here, even though she won't be able to become a Warrior Knight, I'll know she can avoid being killed in battle – I hope."

"But – why are you here?" Yugi asked. "What about your town?"

"After you were forced away, when you needed help so greatly, we talked about it. We think we can do more to help people if we travel about helping people, instead of staying in one stuffy, frightened town. It seemed best to come here, to train, first – even if I never become a Warrior Knight," Celedor explained.

"I refuse to learn how to harm someone with a weapon, but the warriors are kind enough to teach me how to defend myself and how to survive on a battlefield. If I can learn enough to help my brother in our travels, I am content," Vialla added.

Yugi imagined it. Celedor and Vialla, sibling elves wandering about the lands helping any who needed it. He smiled. "I know you will do well, and help many people."

Vialla smiled at him, before a frown creased her brow. "You're exhausted! We should stop talking out here and go inside. I am certain my Lord Joseph has a chamber prepared for you."

Bone-weary and mentally wrung out from his day, Yugi closed his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow. His body cried out for sleep, his limbs already heavy and sluggish as they tried to drag his mind into the sleep they craved, but his thoughts raced.

Yugi's mind was tired, too. Sleep, even if it came with dreams, would help him sort out his thoughts and feelings about what had happened and what he'd learned, today. Why did he take such an instant and instinctive liking to Lord Joey? How was it that meeting this third of the Kindly Lords had almost felt like coming home? It seemed almost familiar – accepting instruction to 'toughen up' from Joey, even though he'd never met him before today – and before today had never touched a sword to use it.

And the staff? Why did that feeling, wrapping his hand around a piece of wood of that diameter, weight, and balance seem so familiar? The staff he'd used today was a light blond wood, but in his mind's eye, his memory kept trying to substitute another color. Green. A soft, pearlescent, nearly glowing green, like, like...

Yugi's eyes snapped open. The bell! The bell at the Water Sage's pool. That was the color his mind kept trying to make the staff in his hands.

Yugi forced his eyes closed again, and tried to let his mind drift on random thoughts instead of uselessly worrying at a problem that made no sense. Perhaps someone he met today reminded him of the Water Sage, and that's why the connection, as erroneous as it was, was there in his mind.

Not Joey. There wasn't anything calm or settled about the third of the Kindly Lords, and those were the first two words that sprang to mind to describe the Water Sage. Though, it had been an unexpected and wonderful surprise to meet Celedor and Vialla again. Hadn't they told him that they knew the Water Sage? Perhaps seeing them again is what made him think of that.

It was interesting that none of the knights-in-training seemed to mind that Yugi somehow just instantly merited that which they fought so hard to earn the right to. Yugi knew he took the responsibilities of being the Hero very seriously, even though he still wasn't sure that he was the Hero. It seemed everyone in the Stronghold thought he was the Hero. Yugi supposed it was understandable, since Joey believed it, and Yugi had arrived in the company of the other two Kindly Lords.

The legends about the Hero were so vague! In fact, there wasn't any one legend to point to. The Hero was mentioned in bits and pieces throughout many stories in the past, and as someone who would do many more things in the future. Nowhere did it quite say who he was, or what he was to do. In fact, the legends never specifically said the Hero was a he!

Perhaps the Hero wasn't really to do anything, other than gather skilled people around him and focus their power and attention on a single task. Yami, Seto, and now Joey all had impressive powers and abilities. Perhaps the extent of Yugi's 'heroism' was simply to get them to stop arguing with each other long enough to focus their attention as one on taking care of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos once and for all.

But the Guardians...

From various things they'd each said, and how they all seemed to share some secret awareness, and how each seemed to know he was the Hero upon sight, Yugi wondered if perhaps they had some knowledge no one else did. The adventuring party, such as it is, had grown so much, Yugi wasn't certain he could get the Purple Knight away from everyone else long enough for a private conversation. The White Knight had saved him, true, but Yugi still felt closer to the Purple Knight, somehow. If anyone would share hidden knowledge with him, Yugi was certain it would be the Purple Knight.

He realized he'd never learned the Purple Knight's proper name. He knew that at one time the Purple Knight had been human, an adventurer, traveling at Yami's side. It seemed odd to know that much detail of something so tragic, and yet still not know the name of the one who'd endured it.

And, despite his reluctance, Yugi's mind wandered over to the subject of the Red Knight. Just as he'd taken an instant liking to the Champion Lord of Warriors and Fire, he'd discovered an odd antipathy toward Joey's Guardian Knight.

It made no sense! The Red Knight was just as polite and concerned as both the Purple and White Knights, and yet Yugi found his mind shouting alarms whenever he noticed the Guardian. It was weird. Of the three Guardian Knights, he was the most 'normal'. The Purple Knight, Yami's Guardian, was a massive suit of armor filled with shadows. Seto's White Knight was a drake. Joey's Red Knight was a man in armor. He had silvery white hair, and calm, gray eyes. He didn't smile, much, but that made sense in a warrior. He hadn't done so much as give Yugi a cross look, so Yugi couldn't understand why he had such a strong and instinctive alarm about him. A pulse throbbing over his heart distracted him.

His hand crept up to touch the warmth of the Hero's Heartstone.

"Please help me to be fair to the man. He hasn't done anything wrong. It's me... It's – me..." Oddly comforted by the gentle pulsing under his fingers, Yugi's mind finally quieted and he drifted off to sleep.

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Interlude


	12. Chapter 12

**INTERLUDE**

Light dappled through the thin shell and splashed on the water pooling in the middle of the central chamber. Solemn quiet permeated the room. Nothing stirred in the peaceful chamber until a purple light, followed by a red one, appeared, floating above the water.

As if summoned by the presence of these strange lights, the Water Sage appeared at the doorway.

"I hope you don't mind if I wait here instead of transforming into a merman, again," he said.

"It is best to conserve your magic. We have a situation," the purple light replied.

"Oh?"

"The memory-seal on Yugi..."

"It's my fault," the red light interrupted. "I forgot my role and introduced myself – by name."

"Ah." The Water Sage pondered this information. "That is a problem. The young one is remarkably attuned with each of us – it is dangerous enough to permit Celador, Vialla, and the others to use their names."

"There is only one name that will most certainly break the spell," the purple presence said serenely. "If you but strengthen the forgetfulness spell on Yugi now, he should forget learning Akai's name as it was only the one slip. Deepening it on him will cause the others to forget it, too. All will be well."

"The situation grows – complex," the Water Sage noted.

"As we knew it would. Still, I am pleased with how things are unfolding. The outcome we discussed becomes more certain with each – complication."

"I am sorry to have added a problem to the mix," the red presence said.

"It is not something that can't be undone," the purple light reassured. "Isn't that correct 'Water Sage'?"

"And it falls to me – why?"

"He's connected to me deeper than I realized. Unless I'm forced to, I dare not act, or else the charade falls apart. I would prefer it if my role in this adventure were to remain completely hidden."

"Hmm. And, the Purple Knight?"

"He is playing up his sorcerous and chivalric nature – to the hilt – so to speak." The Water Sage rolled his eyes at the purple light's pun. "The memory-seal on Yugi is tightly in place with regards to him, though the young one's curiosity is roused by the Purple Knight's tragic past, again. If we counter Akai's slip, I can distract Yugi's attention from contemplating that history too deeply, and everything should be as it was before."

"Very well." The Water Sage reached out, grasping the green pearlescent staff that appeared next to his right hand. His water garment flowed away, revealing purple armor and robes in their wake. "Give me a sight-line, if you please."

The purple presence pulsed, once. A moment later, a distant purple pulse gave the Dark Sage the target he needed. He sent a mighty, specially-shaped magical attack along the line the purple light had given him.

Miles away, Yugi, in his chamber in the Stronghold of the Champion Lord of Warriors, subsided into a deeper sleep as the magic touched him.

"It is done. We must not slip up again, though. Deepening this spell on the young one once more could well harm him. As it will take me time to recover enough to resume my disguise, make certain no one has need to consult the 'Water Sage' for the next day or so," the Dark Sage commanded.

"Not to worry. I sense that the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos is about to make another move. Subtle, that one is not!" The purple light sparkled.

"Yes, that will most certainly distract our Hero from trying to discover things we do not wish for him to learn," the Dark Sage replied. He turned a steely blue-eyed stare the red light's way. "Watch yourself. Do not forget your role again."

"I am the Red Knight, in service as the Guardian for the Lord of Fire and Warriors, and a Warrior Knight myself. I won't break my role again," the red light promised, dipping toward the surface of the water as if bowing to the Dark Sage.

"We are near the time for the first of the Hero's real challenges, aren't we?" The Dark Sage turned toward the purple light.

"Yes. I'm certain Yugi will get more lines of the prophecy after his next encounter with the Chaos Dragon."

"Don't you know?" The Dark Sage seemed surprised.

"I know only the broad outline. The individual actions of all the participants are not in my direct control."

"Risky."

"I have faith in Yugi."

"Me, too," the red presence added.

"As do I," the Dark Sage admitted softly.

**Chapter Twelve – The Lord, the Hero, and the Flameblade**

Yugi looked dubiously into the inferno revealed when Joey opened the stone door of the tower. "I, uhm, am _not_ going in there!" he called.

Joey turned and walked toward him. "How else are you going to claim my sword for me?" he asked reasonably enough. "You went into the Well of Shadows and the Heart of Ice. Why not the Crucible of Fire?"

"Because he's not insane?" Seto suggested.

Yugi nodded and gaped at Joey. Even at this distance, about twenty feet away, the heat alone from the fire revealed to be raging in the tower smack in the center of both halves of Joey's Stronghold made the hairs on his arms shrivel and curl up. "I wasn't in my right mind when I did that – either time. Huh."

"'Huh', what?"

"Look, I can't just go walking in there the way you do. I'm sure if I try to do that I'll just burn up and die. But, I'm guessing that at some point I'm going to somehow get the notion to go wandering in there." Yugi looked at the fire again, and shivered. His hand crept up to clutch the pendant and heartstone where they hung in front of his heart. "I just hope I survive this one." He looked up at Joey again. "Chances are I'm going to lose track of time, and common sense, and wind up in there, and you are going to have to get me out. I can't just – walk in there now. The timing of it is – mystical, I guess."

"Whatever you say, pal," Joey replied, as he gestured, and closed the door. "It'd be easier to know when I'm supposed ta find you in there, though."

"Yeah, it really would –" Yugi's voice trailed off oddly.

Without any sort of warning at all, Yugi swiftly walked forward, yanked open the door, and calmly walked into the tower that contained the Crucible of Fire. Shelleene uttered a piteous cry as she was forcibly ejected from Yugi's shadow when he passed through the doorway.

"Holy smokes!" Joey exclaimed. "That was...!"

"Weird? Yes. Don't stand around here talking about it! Go in there, find your sword, and get him out before anything else happens to him!" Yami demanded.

Joey shot them a cocky grin, started to say something, shrugged his shoulders, and dashed into the blazing fire. The door closed behind him.

Unable to do anything else, Yami and Seto waited, and watched. Yami held his arms open as a haven for the traumatized shadow guardian, who mewled miserably at being separated so suddenly from Yugi. Shelleene quivered in his arms. Seto surprised Yami, and himself, by reaching a hand out to comfort the little shadow monster.

"Only because you help the Hero," Seto muttered self-consciously. "That's all." Shelleene made a gentle purring sound and stroked her cheek against the Lord of Dragons' hand. At the silky touch of her fur on his skin, Seto pulled his hand away, shook it violently, and stalked off to find his Guardian.

"Don't mind him, Shelleene," Yami said to comfort her. "Seto is a jerk. And don't worry. Joey's an idiot, but he is the Lord of Fire. He will be able to bring Yugi out of there – safely. Yugi _is_ the Hero, after all!" He stared at the closed door to the Tower of Fire and hoped that Yugi did return safely, and soon.

– – – – –

Joey watched in amazement, as Yugi, in some sort of a trance, calmly walked through the flames to the center of the tower. Once there, he lifted his hands, and appeared to rise up on the intense heat of the flames.

"Yeah, pal. I know all about the thermals in here. I've been through this entire towel brick by brick and flame by flame. There's no place to hide a sword in here, that I haven't looked at, so I'm not sure how you're gonna find..." Joey interrupted himself. "Yeah, that's right. You don't know, either. The other two think they had to bring you out of whatever hypnotized state you were in, and then you did – whatever it is you do – to find their swords."

Joey rode the main thermal updraft to the level Yugi had floated to. He was relieved to note that Yugi's hair and clothes were intact, and not on fire.

"Some weird abilities you have, kid." Joey said. "Not that I'm complainin'! I don't want anything to happen to you. So, what are you supposed to do to get my sword for me?"

Yugi's eyes were open, but he didn't appear to see Joey.

"You're creeping me out with this," Joey muttered. "How long are you actually safe in here, anyway? I'm good, but I'm the Lord of Fire. When you come to, or wake up, or whatever, are you gonna just..."

Joey's thoughts ground to a halt. Yugi floated in the very center of the Crucible of Fire. If something happened to break his current invulnerability to the flames, he'd certainly die before Joey could take him either up, or down, or toward the wall where it curved around them in even an attempt to try to get him away from being in the fire. Suddenly it seemed as if waking Yugi was the last thing Joey should try to do – at least until he'd figure out how to keep him safe in the core of the fire.

"Yami wrapped you in shadows, and Seto reached out to give you wings. Seto said you weren't affected at all by being in the Heart of Ice once you woke up, but... That's ice. It's not fire. Fire is far more destructive." Joey clutched at his head. "What am I gonna do?!" He looked around, even though he'd been here thousands of times before. The fire burned without fuel, raging in a backward torrent from the ground to lick at the top of the tower. The stones that made up the tower glowed white-hot. Joey knew that some enchantment had been placed on them to prevent them from burning up in the fire, too. Previously, anything that he carried with him in here was safe, but burned instantly as soon as he let it go – stone, metal, gems. Nothing survived in this inferno except the magically enchanted stones of the tower, himself – and now Yugi.

But Yugi was in some trance, and Joey feared to break it. Yugi wouldn't even have time to register that he was dying before he burned completely away – beyond even ashes.

"Wait a minute...!" Joey closed his eyes tight, blocking the sight and roar of the fire, as best he could, so he could concentrate. An idea had wandered across the margin of his mind. He stilled, hoping to catch it and think it through.

"Yami used shadows in the Shadow Realm – but Yami's always been weird. Besides, blood would have been..." Joey swallowed convulsively, and pushed the rest of the thought away. "Seto didn't use ice, even in the Ice Realm, at first – Yugi was still okay even after he woke up. But Seto did..."

Joey opened his eyes, resolved on his course of action. Really, there wasn't anything else he could do. Just as Seto was master of two areas of power, so was he. He was the Lord of Fire – but he was also the Lord of Warriors. He shaped the strongest armor he could with his power in his mind. He imagined imbuing it with power to protect the wearer from even the most intense flame. It was massive, but it had to be, since channels all over the surface were needed to cool the air that made it into the suit of armor so that the wearer could breathe. What purpose would there be in protecting Yugi from fire when the scorching air would kill him on his first breath?

Holding the image of the completed armor firmly, yet carefully, in his mind, Joey didn't have enough magical resources to blythefully send it forth to its intended target as he usually did.

"I sure hope this works, pal. This is my best shot – and all my magic!" Joey dropped his hand to Yugi's shoulder, releasing the magic armor to encase him. Unfortunately, he hadn't taken into account the volume of the special armor he crafted, as it suddenly smashed him hard against the wall of the tower.

"Yeouch!"

After Yugi's armor pinned the Lord of Fire against the inner wall of the tower for a long moment, gravity finally took notice. A massive screeching, scraping, rumbling noise accompanied Yugi, now surrounded by a ton of metal, all through the tower to crash and settle with a massive thud on the ground. The inferno abated for the merest of moments at the alien, fire-impervious presence in its midst, then flared up even higher, as if affronted by this puny effort to put it out. Joey caught himself on the renewed updrafts before crashing on top of the massive metal form that was Yugi.

"Joey?" Buried though he was in his massive suit of armor, Yugi's magically amplified voice could still be heard. Joey had thought of everything. Almost.

"Yeah, Yuge?"

"What the hell did you do?!" Yugi shouted. "I can't move!"

"Well, yeah. I had ta protect you from the flames, so there's – I dunno – a ton or so of metal in that armor suit. Even my magic has its limits, you know."

"Get me out of here!" Yugi grunted as if he were trying to flail around, but the armor didn't budge at all.

"But, Yugi..."

Yugi heaved a sigh. "I'll be fine. I promise. I think it has something to do with – with being the Hero. I couldn't just come in here before, when you offered, but now that I've sleepwalked into here, or whatever that weird state is, I'm fine. Look, what else are you going to do? I'm way too big to leave by the door in this – this tank, even if I could move."

He had a point. Another of Joey's oversights. The only way to get Yugi out of here – in the armor – would be to take the tower apart. And Joey had the definite notion that was a very bad idea. Once free of the magical containment of the tower, he was sure the Crucible of Fire would happily torch the entire world. "Uhm..." Joey dithered a moment more. "_Please_ be okay, Yugi!"

He reached out and touched the massive magical armor. Instead of removing it entirely, he reduced it to the shape, size, and ability of the armor he'd given Yugi before, albeit with as much protection against fire as he could manage.

"Much better!" Yugi declared, lifting his arm and opening the visor. Joey scrunched his eyes tight, fearful that Yugi would hurt himself trying to breathe the super-heated air without the visor in place.

Yugi chuckled. "I'm _fine_. See?"

Pounding on the door startled them. "Yugi! Yugi! Are you okay?!" Yami's voice carried through the stone slab that served as the tower's door.

"Trust that idiot Lord of Fire to mess things up. He better not have gotten the Hero killed." Seto's complaint sounded next.

"YUGI!"

"I'm fine, Yami! Both of us are!" Yugi called, hoping his voice too, would carry through the stone.

"Thank all the... Can you get out? We can't open the door!" Yami replied.

"Unless you want to burn to a crisp, don't touch the door!" Joey warned. "In fact, you should probably back away from it. It's too hot for anyone to withstand for too long."

"He's right," Seto said. "It's too hot. I hate to admit it, but we should back away and let Lord Flame-Brain do what he needs to get Yugi out of there – safely."

"I heard that!" Joey shouted.

"Okay. We are waiting for you out here, Yugi. Hurry up, get Joey his sword, and get out of there!" Yami called. The lowering sound of his voice indicated he was walking away from the door. Yugi wondered if Seto was pulling him away. He sort of got that feeling.

"So, now what?" Joey asked.

Yugi looked at him for a very long, unblinking moment. "Uhm, you do, uhm, have a fire attack, of some kind, don't you?" Yugi winced. "I probably should have asked out there, just in case. If you don't, I'm not sure what to..."

Joey grinned, relieved that he wasn't the only one who sometimes did rash things. "Yeah, pal. I've got a fire attack. I suppose you need me to shoot it at ya?"

Yugi grinned. "Yeah, I think that's how this is supposed to work."

"Have it your way. One Hero Flambé Special, coming right up!"

"Hey! That's not even funny!"

"Ha, ha!"

– – – – –

Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Thirteen – Confronting Chaos


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen – Confronting Chaos**

"Accept the Pain."

Yugi blinked his bleary eyes and wondered who said such a strange thing to him. He was alone in the darkened room in Yami's shadow-tent. None of the shadows were Shadows, so it wasn't even one of them.

"A dream," he realized. He punched his pillow in frustration. It made him feel helpless to be open to these odd dream attacks whenever he slept. His concern was that he figured out what each weird line given to him in a dream was only _after_ whatever it meant happened.

_Gather the Lords._ That had been the first – he'd heard it in the royalberry glen outside Celedor and Vialla's town. It was pretty obvious in retrospect that meeting Yami, Seto, and Joey, and enlisting their aid, fulfilled that command.

_Claim their Swords._ Yeah, that one was obvious, too. Entering the core of power for each castle, and enduring an elemental attack from each lord somehow gave Yugi the ability to solidify that elemental energy into a sword. He was completely unaware of how it had happened the first time. Even though he was conscious to gain Seto's Frostblade and Joey's Flameblade, he still had no idea what he actually did to get the swords. The ordeal of Fire had been a bit harrowing, when he came to his senses and realized he was immobilized in gigantic metal armor in the midst of an inferno, but it had worked out okay in the end. It hadn't been easy to stand still as Joey aimed and fired his Flame Strike attack at him, but the strange magic around Yugi had worked. He'd not only been uninjured by the attack, but somehow managed to 'claim' the Flameblade, too. Thankfully, there were no other lords for him to 'gather' or swords for him to 'claim'. He wasn't sure his heart could take it.

_Accept the Pain._ This new one troubled him – deeply. In a way, it seemed as though he'd found nothing but pain since he left his homeland. Yami had terrified him – at first. Seto hadn't been that bad, but Yugi had dreaded the meeting because Yami had dreaded it so much. Joey had been okay – himself, but his land stunk. And, Yugi couldn't forget looking up to find the baleful Dragon of Blackness and Chaos staring down at him during that Chaos Storm. It was not a comforting feeling to know that the big bad in the land not only knew his name, but also knew he was the Hero destined to do something about stopping it. The Shade that had accosted him on the way to the Dragon Lands had been only a little less unsettling than the dragon.

Couple all that with the fact that Yugi still didn't feel like a hero. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. He was just following the glowing side of the Pendant of Pharaoh, which still seemed to have a strong hold over him. He wondered wearily if he would ever be free of it, or if he would wander around the lands chasing after the Chaos Dragon with the Three Kindly Lords until, until...

Yugi shook his head. Negative thoughts weren't going to help anything.

_Accept the Pain._

Reasoning that he couldn't do anything about it until he figured out what it meant, Yugi turned over onto his stomach again, and tried to fall asleep.

– – – – –

The universe hated him. It was the only answer. Darn the stupid Pendant! It kept leading him into dangerous situations. Like this one.

The Pendant hadn't even given him a chance to rest after claiming Joey's sword. It started glowing and pulling at him to move on from the Stronghold once they exited the Crucible of Fire. Thankfully, the Three Kindly Lords were pretty good traveling companions. Sure, Joey teased Seto, and Yami would zing both of them with snarky comments, but for the most part, it was kind of comforting to travel with all of them, and their Guardian Knights. Far from being lonely as he'd feared when he first left home on this adventure, Yugi had almost more company than he knew what to do with.

And it was fun! Joey still managed to teach him battle skills, and every once in a while, whenever they weren't under trees, Seto would speed things along by giving everyone wings. Yami provided the accommodations when night fell. They found a suitable campsite just inside the forest they'd been skirting along all day. All three lords argued over whose forces would protect the camp. Yugi settled it by decreeing that all three had their part. Seto's Drakes and Dragons patrolled the air, Yami's Shadows melted into the pools of darkness around the woods, and Joey's Knights kept watch directly outside the tent. Nothing happened to disrupt them while they slept. All in all, things seemed to be going well, and they'd made good time toward whatever destination the Pendant had in mind for Yugi next.

That is, until just a few minutes ago. Yugi had no idea where his Pendant was leading them, except it was away from the Firelands, and it didn't seem to be toward either Seto's or Yami's lands. If anything, it seemed to be toward the mountain range they could see in the distance. They'd just crested a rather low, craggy hill, when everything around them went mad.

Knaves in armor hideously adorned with leering demonic faces, skulls, and other not so easily identified but ugly motifs suddenly appeared behind them. Cackling Shades writhed in front of them. And overhead, flights of Drakors stooped toward them.

An instant later, summoned by the lords, Seto's Drakes filled the air, Joey's Knights formed a defensive line against the Knaves, and Yami's Shadows flowed forth in a dark wave to stop the Shades. Yugi was relieved that even though they teased each other mercilessly, when it came right down to it, the Three Kindly Lords functioned well together. Still, it was very unfriendly of the Pendant to lead them into a trap. Hence, his belief that the universe was out to get him.

He dodged a low-flying Drakor and wondered why the universe hated him so much. It's not like he did anything to _it_, he thought crossly, ducking under a clumsy grab from a Knave, and whacking the minion of Chaos in the backside with his staff. He had a moment to look up from the suddenly clear area around him to see how his companions were faring.

Not surprisingly, Seto was in the air, wreaking havoc on the flying forces with his Drakes and well-aimed ice bolts. Yugi couldn't take a moment to marvel at his marksmanship, though, as another Drakor dive-bombed him.

The White Knight chased the Drakor, chopping down at the evil flyer's wing with a short, powerful blow. The Drakor screamed as the White Knight's attack struck a weak point in the articulated armor and scored a solid hit on the sensitive wing. The stricken saurian flapped its wings wildly to stay airborne, and flew off as fast as it could from Seto's Guardian. The White Knight flashed Yugi his disconcertingly toothy grin, and winged back up to flank his lord in the air.

Meanwhile, Yami and Joey had teamed up to devastating effect on the enemy ground forces. Yami had gifted all of Yugi's traveling party with dark-sight, the ability to see clearly even in the midst of the deepest shadows. Knowing that the Lord of Fire could see perfectly, he'd buried Joey in a seething mass of shadows, some of which were actual Shadows, and therefore able to move with the Fire Lord to hide and protect him. Thus concealed, Joey was shooting Flame Strikes at the Knaves and Shades and making huge holes in their ranks.

The Purple and Red Knights were engaged in more normal combat directly with some of the opposing fighters who seemed to be commanders of Chaos' forces. Yami was nowhere in Yugi's direct sight, but Yugi was sure he was in the thick of the fighting – somewhere.

It seemed – it seemed as if they might actually... If the fighting continued like this, they might have a chance to...

Just as the thought that they might actually win crossed Yugi's mind, his gaze fell on the last of the Kindly Lords – and the one he'd been secretly wanting to confirm was all right the most. Yami was anything but 'all right'. His sightless eyes pointed up toward the dog-fight in the sky, but their red gleam was forever dimmed. The shock of it made Yugi's heart thud painfully. It took all his will to tear his eyes away from the pathetic sight, and when he did, he wished he hadn't.

Tearing his eyes away, he watched as Lord Seto shot an especially powerful ice bolt at one of the wing commanders for the Drakors. The humanoid dragon performed a hurried mystical gesture with his hands, and the ice bolt bounced off of him to encase the lord who'd shot it in the first place. Unprepared to have his attack reflected, Seto had no chance as the bolt hit him, froze him solid, and sent him plummeting to the ground – where he shattered into thousands of sparkling, diamond-white pieces.

A bolt of fire commanded Yugi's attention next – as it raked across the field indiscriminately, charring both the Red Knight and the Purple Knight.

Just when Yugi's heart despaired that things couldn't possible get any worse, a sudden, awful disturbance overhead heralded the approach of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos.

"So, Hero – is this the best you can do? Hide behind others and watch them die, one by one, instead of confronting me?"

– – – – –

For such undisciplined tactics, they were doing surprisingly well. Of course, that was because he was doing his part in keeping the air above them relatively free of threats. His White Knight covered his right flank, but dropped down to take care of any Drakors that made it past them to the land-bound below. Seto had no illusions about his skill – and that of his forces.

He'd noticed that Joey and Yami combined their abilities to come up with what he had to admit was a particularly effective strategy. Their Guardians were targeting the field commanders for the land forces. As long as nothing happened to change the tenor of this battle, they would be victorious and send a clear message to the Chaos Dragon that they meant business. Deadly business.

That was Seto's last thought before everything fell apart. His ice bolt went wide, somehow eluding his rigid control of it, to stab into the shadow-cloud that hid his two fellow lords. A loud cry and the rapid dissipating of the shadows showed him that his errant shot had hit a very unfortunate target. Yami was frozen solid from the hit, which explained why his shadows disappeared. As they cleared even more, Seto was horrified to see that his bolt had also taken out Joey.

That was when the sky above him suddenly clouded with blackness, confusion, and magic.

– – – – –

Magic raked across his soul like fingernails down a blackboard. The sheer force of it staggered him. Yami watched as Yugi slumped to his knees even though no enemy attacked him, while Seto's flight faltered and the Lord of Dragons began to fall from the air. Joey, likewise, still within the concealing shadows, stumbled and halted his attack.

A dark and twisted version of his power plucked at his soul. Yami shook his head, denying the illusion admittance to his mind, and steeled his magic shields. At the relief he gained once he did so, he realized the nature of the attack that was taking down his comrades one by one. Acting quickly, he sent a tendril of his power forth to summon Shelleene from within Yugi's shadow to protect the Hero. However, the others had no such protection waiting within their shadows. Even though he'd used his power to give all of them dark-sight, Yami hadn't thought to evoke the Shadows he sensed within each of his fellow lord's blood.

"Without a touch of their blood this will be hard – and the distance is a problem, too. Still, I am the Lord of Blood and Shadows, and I refuse to let the Chaos Dragon beat us with a simple psychic ploy like this!" Yami growled. He knew that the Lord of Chaos attacked them with specially-formed Shades, designed to take the form of the viewer's worst nightmares. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. He reached deep into – not his soul where his Shadow-power dwelt – but within his heart for the other half of his power – his mystical power over Blood. The shadows around Lord Joey dissipated. Yami had to reach so deeply into his lesser-used power that he couldn't even maintain the shadows, and Shadows, that were already battling. He couldn't even shadow-walk closer to his friends to help. Ironically, he had to leave himself fully open to attack in order to protect the others. A nightmare battered at his mind – and he couldn't afford re-establish his magical wards to protect himself from it. If he did so, he wouldn't be able to reach out and help the others. He used sheer force of will to deny the nightmare, catching only a glimpse of Yugi down – if not worse – before the nightmare faded from his sight – for now. Shaking his head, he forced his attention and power to the plight of the others, instead of himself.

Seto first. Normally, he needed a sample of a person's blood to discern and draw forth the blood-guardian dwelling within. Seto's power was strong enough that Yami already knew the shape of the shadow in the Lord of Dragon's blood. He hoped his desperate determination would make this work.

Though formed with the power of of Blood and Shadow, the blood-guardian solidifying behind Seto was white. Similar to the White Knight in that she was a humanoid draconian, Seto's blood-guardian lacked wings. Instead, she bore two wickedly curved blades, one in each hand. She struck at what appeared to be empty air, forcing the Nightmare Shade that the Chaos Lord sent to torment Seto with incarnate. The black silhouette shape of a draconian screeched, and turned its baleful attention from the Lord of Dragons to deal with this new threat.

Satisfied that Kisara had Seto's nightmare well under control, he turned his attention to Joey. Unfortunately, his own nightmare sprang up to ambush him.

Yugi's face bore a cold and disdainful expression as he turned from him. _"Why would I care about you on any level aside from the power you hold? You're cruel, and dark, and only half a man!"_

A shadow-sword sliced through Yugi's sneering expression, breaking the nightmare's hold on Yami's mind. Thankfully, once disrupted, the Shade dropped its act pretending to be Yugi and assumed its natural appearance. Yami was disgusted with himself that he fell prey to the Nightmare Shade's effect, as he, more than anyone, knew how they worked. He was surprised that anyone had the power to disrupt the nightmare specifically sent to torment him – as only one's own blood-guardian had that power.

"I am of the shadows now, my lord. I know that the presumed existence of your own blood-guardian is problematic, and that in order to help the others, you must leave yourself unprotected. I thought I might be able to protect you – even if only partially." Yami looked up into the glowing purple eyes of his Guardian Knight.

"Thank you."

Seto's Kisara had the Lord of Dragon's nightmare-inducing Shade on the run, and Seto had returned to battling the air-borne physical foes facing them. Trying to find Joey, Yami's gaze fell upon Yugi instead.

The Hero's shadow-guardian, the Kuriboh Shelleene, was fluttering around him, cooing, clicking, and all but barking to try to get Yugi's attention. Yugi didn't appear to see her at all, his eyes fixed on a vision no one else could see, a horrified and despairing look upon his face. Try as he might, Yami, even though he was the Lord of Shadows and had at least a partial understanding of these fearsome Shades, could not catch even a glimpse of what hell the Chaos Lord's minion was subjecting Yugi to.

"Yugi! I've got to..." Yami turned as if to go to Yugi's side.

"No! My lord, you must protect the Lord of Fire from his nightmare Shade first. If he should lash out with his power trying to fight his nightmare, the damage he could unwittingly do to our forces would be immense."

"But...!"

"Yami! Listen to me. Help Joey first," the Purple Knight insisted.

Growling in frustration, but conceding to the logic of it, Yami closed his eyes and reached with his power toward the guardian he sensed lurking in Joey's blood.

Just as Seto's blood-guardian reflected her lord's area of power, so did Joey's. Garbed in armor of orange and blue, and wielding a massive broad-bladed sword, the warrior incarnated under Yami's magic easily enough, almost as if eager to manifest and do battle against the nightmare Shade targeting his lord. The very presence of this new ally broke through Joey's nightmare. He nodded once, grinned, and without words naturally assumed a protective back-to-back defensive stance with his blood-guardian mirroring him.

Reassured that Joey's blood-guardian, the Flame Swordsman Bryce, was more than capable of protecting the Fire Lord from his Nightmare Shade enemy, Yami turned. Gifting his Guardian Knight with half a glare, Yami turned his attention toward Yugi, reached into his power over Shadows, and shadow-walked to the besieged Hero's side.

Yugi didn't seem to notice him. Yami's heart spasmed at the lost, despairing, and tragic expression on Yugi's face, and the utter hopelessness dimming the normal brightness of his eyes.

"Courage," he murmured, before dropping his hand to Yugi's shoulder, and funneling as much of the power of Shadows he dared through Yugi's shadow to strengthen Yugi's Kuriboh.

She squealed as the energy touched her, fuming and pawing at the air as if catching her balance with this new mightiness. She charged, forcing one of the nightmare-bringing Shades to stop troubling Yugi and deal with her. In the reality Yugi was trapped in, the icy shards of the dead and broken Dragon Lord disappeared and he one more became aware of Seto's air defense protecting them from the air.

Now that Yami could bring his full power over the Shadows to bear on the problem of helping Yugi, he could perceive the false reality the nightmares gave him. One by one Shelleene turned and handled them all, destroying each nightmare as she defeated each Shade who cause it. Each time Yugi relaxed just a tiny bit under Yami's hand. Yami found himself stroking Yugi's shoulder soothingly, seeking to comfort him now that he understood the scope and shape of the nightmares sent to torment Yugi.

"Yugi?"

"Yes, Yami?"

"The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos really doesn't like you."

Yugi puzzled over that for a moment. What the heck was Yami talking about? Of course the Chaos Lord didn't like him, he was the Hero! "Why do you say that?"

For an answer, Yami nodded toward where Kuriboh had started to glow with the power he was sending to her using his light touch on Yugi's shoulder. "That's the twelfth Nightmare Shade she's defeated."

Yugi shrugged, not understanding what Yami was getting at.

"The Chaos Lord sent only one nightmare monster to bother each of us." Yugi's shoulder slumped a bit under his hand. "What?"

"It–it's nothing," Yugi replied.

Yami squeezed his shoulder. "It's not 'nothing'. Tell me!"

"Of all of us, I'm the weakest – I haven't got any mystical powers as the rest of you do." He waved a hand toward Shelleene. "I can't even fight my own Shades." Yami opened his mouth to tell Yugi that none of them had been able to – that was one of the special, and most inimical powers of Nightmare Shades – but Yugi interrupted him. "If – if you hadn't been here..." Yugi looked up into Yami's face. At the bleak expression on his face, Yami couldn't help but pull Yugi into his arms.

"But, I was here. I'll always be here. You don't need to worry – we Three Kindly Lords know our duty is to protect and help the Hero."

"B-but..."

"Still, you do make it a challenge for us," the tone in Yami's voice changed, modulating to one of teasing. Yugi's eyebrows knitted into a puzzled expression. The last, and most impressive Nightmare Shade had not yet been taken care of. Shelleene turned from defeating his twelfth nightmare to deal with the thirteenth, the scariest one of them all. The Chaos Dragon himself had landed, seated himself on his haunches, and stared hungrily at Yugi the entire time he'd been in the throes of the nightmares. "The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos? Really, Yugi, this Nightmare Shade might be even a bit too much for Shelleene to deal with, even with my power helping her!"

Shelleene heard Yami's comment, and stopped her advance toward the last nightmare to float up in Yami's face and verbally express her displeasure at his lack of faith in her ability. Yugi smiled at the terribly cute, yet undeniably irritated noises his blood-guardian was making. "Shelleene?" She stopped her tirade at the Lord of Shadows long enough to look at him. "Uhm, would you please do something about the last nightmare? It's really creeping me out to be stared at so intently!" Shelleene made a sound of agreement, and floated over toward the last Nightmare Shade again.

Yami cocked his head at Yugi. The half-grin, half-smirk on his face, and teasing light in his lightly glowing red eyes instantly put Yugi on his guard. "Really, Hero! Your last nightmare is just so, so – predictable! And big. So very, very big. I have to wonder if by chance you might be – compensating?"

Yugi's eyes narrowed at the direction of Yami's teasing. He opened his mouth to retort, but closed it and turned when Shelleene let out a piteous shriek, crashed into the ground, and lost her cohesive form. The shadows she dissolved into fled and merged into the shadow Yugi cast upon the ground.

"Such arrogant children," the Chaos Dragon noted softly. "So easy to deceive. I am no mere nightmare brought on by a Shade!" The Chaos Dragon's coiled tail lashed out, batting Yami away from Yugi with a single, contemptuous flick. "Why should I waste my efforts trying to defeat you little lordlings when all I must worry about is this unassuming Hero? If I simply defeat him, no one can stand in my way!"

That was why Yugi had felt so uncomfortable under the gaze of the last 'nightmare'. It had not been a nightmare at all! Rather, Yugi had a chance to amend his thought, it had been a nightmare, just not one brought to him by a Shade. And this last nightmare had become a horrifying and very harsh reality.

"Let's you and I have a little talk," the Chaos Dragon's head slung around, and Yugi found himself all by pierced by the intentness of the dragon's stare. There was no way he could sidle either left or right to get away from the Chaos Lord. "Away from prying ears."

With that pronouncement, the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, pounced on Yugi, grasped him firmly between his sharply-taloned claws, gathered his strength under his haunches, and sprang into the air. So powerful and swift was the ascent that neither Seto nor any of his forces could do anything to help Yugi as the Dragon sped past them. The Chaos Dragon began to lazily circle above the field where the Three Kindly Lords and their forces scurried below.

"Relax, little one. You've still not advanced quite enough in this 'Hero' business to be ready to face me, yet. Just a conversation, like last time." Yugi did relax, just a bit, in the dragon's talons. "Of course, as I am the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, I could be lying to lull you into a false sense of security before trying to destroy you," the dragon noted, as if to himself. Yugi instantly tensed again. The dragon threw back his head and laughed. "Such fun! Ah, but you aren't quite as terrified of me as you were before. Also, you have your lords now. Alas, we won't be able to converse long before they interfere." The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos affected a mock-sorrowful air.

"Wh-What do you want?" Yugi stammered.

The Chaos Dragon ignored his question, and stared into the distance. "'Gather the Lords. Claim their Swords. Accept the Pain'..." The great triangular head dropped suddenly, and again Yugi found himself speared by the intent gaze. "The dragons Gain."

"Wait a minute! That's got to be the next line! How did you...?"

"It's no fun beating you unless you are ready. Even the legends have forgotten the prophecy. My victory would be futile and empty if the prophecy isn't completed. It's in my best interest if you fulfill it properly – and then I defeat you." The Chaos Lord lowered his gaze to see Seto, followed closely by Yami and Joey, flying up to their position. The Dragon Lord had given everyone wings. The lords' Guardian Knights, each also bearing wings, fought to keep the Chaos Dragon's aerial forces away, so that their lords could rescue Yugi.

"Ah, our time together is so short, my nearly-Hero, but I won't give you to them so tamely! If they'd only asked politely, however things might have been different..." The Chaos Dragon winked at him. "Well, perhaps not." He inhaled deeply. Yugi cringed, whether for himself or for the lords flying up to rescue him, he wasn't sure, as the Chaos Lord breathed out some sort of gaseous attack.

Seto, Joey, and Yami faltered when the dragon's breath enveloped them.

"What did you do to them?" Yugi whispered, horrified as he watched them struggle to continue flying.

"Merely a temporary blindness. Nothing that should really bother them." The Chaos Dragon's reply was merry.

Perhaps a temporary blindness would not trouble them if they were on the ground and not flying high in the air, and if they weren't being attacked by the Chaos Dragon's forces that were still doing their best to kill them, and, and...

Suddenly, the three blinded lords blinked out. Yugi was watching them, and that was the only way to describe it. It took a moment for it to occur to him that being blind would be like plunging Yami entirely into shadows. He'd used his power to shadow-walk all three of them even though no shadow was actually around. Yugi spied their magical arrival on the ground when shadows, and he suspected Shadows, seethed together abruptly to conceal them from sight.

"Aww, they got away. Without injury, from the looks of it." The Lord of Chaos filled this pronouncement with regret. "Still, they haven't... What?!"

The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos back winged abruptly, as the Purple Knight and the Red Knight seemed to magically appear in his face. They'd flown up directly under the Chaos Dragon to remain in the only blind spot there was to approach. The White Knight used the Chaos Dragon's distraction and slightly loosened grip, to try wrest Yugi from the dragon's talons. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Yugi struggled to free himself, finally pulling free and clinging for dear life around the White Knight's neck.

"Don't worry," the White Knight whispered. "I've got you. My brother knightsss will provide dissstraction until we get away."

They did, harrying at the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos until in disgust, he summoned a Chaos Storm. Before retreating into the weirdly-faced, gibbering, seething clouds, he stared at Yugi for a long moment. The Chaos Dragon's head nodded once, either a reluctant gesture of respect, or a promise to meet again. Yugi thought it was probably a bit of both.

Once the Lord Dragon had flown through the clear eye of his Chaos Storm, and the storm cleared taking not only him, but also his Drakors, Shades, and Knaves with him, Yugi turned his attention to his comrades to make certain they were all right.

Yami, Seto, and Joey had immediately recovered from their mystical blindness with the Chaos Dragon's retreat. They were now tending to their forces, healing those who'd been hurt. Remarkably, there had been only minor injuries that were easily tended to. Joey, Seto, and Yami saw to setting up their camp for the night, not permitting Yugi to lift a finger to help. Left with his own company, Yugi wondered about the curious lack of serious injuries, as the fighting had been fierce. Even though it worried him, he was so exhausted he fell asleep quickly.

He fell into dreams. Three swords – one of Shadows, one of Ice, and one of Fire floated eerily before him. A dragon of bone and shadows; a white dragon with icy blue eyes; and a black dragon with fire for a soul appeared before his sleeping gaze next. He watched as each dragon in turn was overtaken by some invisible force that turned each into stone.

_The dragons Gain._

The words whispered through his mind, in a voice that was a disturbing blend of his own mental tone, and the voice of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos.

His dreaming self shook his head. That was only half of the puzzle. "Accept the Pain.... The dragons Gain." He shivered. More of the dream pushed at his mind, but he set his will against it. He didn't want to find out more. It had been so hard to watch Yami, Seto, and Joey struggle to remain in the air once they'd been struck blind. He had worried about both the Red Knight and the Purple Knight facing off against the Chaos Dragon while the White Knight helped him escape. These were people he'd met on this adventure, who believed in him as the Hero, who he didn't want to see get hurt – or worse.

_Accept the Pain._

He didn't want to. Perhaps, if he refused to dream, whatever was supposed to happen next wouldn't – couldn't happen – and those he'd come to care about wouldn't get hurt. Maybe he'd learned enough that he could throw the Pendant away, and not put his friends in danger. Foreboding was what he sensed. Danger looming in the future – not for him – rather, there was danger for him, but he'd accept that no problem – it was the danger to his friends that he feared.

The sense of a great mountain pressed at his mind, seeking to force him to acknowledge it. Yugi was certain if he did, he'd open a floodgate of images containing information he didn't want to have. He strengthened his efforts to deny the dream, trying in the frantic and frustrated way of any dreamer caught in a nightmare to move, or cry out, or scream, or otherwise break the hold of the dream on his mind. It might be a magically-induced nightmare, but perhaps it was vulnerable to the same things normal nightmares were. He really hoped so.

– – – – –

Yami watched Yugi toss in his sleep through a mystic shadow-portal displayed on the wall of his chamber in the massive shadow-tent he'd conjured for all of them. Today had been a hard battle, on all of them, but he worried about Yugi. Yugi was a reluctant Hero if ever there was one, but he'd been gradually accepting the reality and responsibility of that role. Something about today's events seemed to have dealt some sort of blow to Yugi's comfort and beginning confidence in himself as the Hero.

_Yeah, being scooped up in the front claws of a giant-ass dragon tends to deflate anyone's confidence in anything, you fool!_ Yami berated himself mentally. He watched Yugi turn fretfully again and wrestled with his emotions. He wanted to go to Yugi's side and comfort him out of the nightmare. But, that might freak Yugi out. Yami didn't think Yugi would be happy to realize that Yami watched him sometimes. But, he worried. He stared at the image, resolving to just keep an eye on the Hero until Yugi fought out of his nightmare and subsided into a calmer sleep. Yeah, that's all he was doing – just making sure Yugi was okay. But, Yugi didn't fight his way through. He didn't calm down.

Unable to take watching Yugi's torment any longer, Yami shadow-walked to Yugi's side. As when he'd been helping Shelleene fight off the nightmare Shades, he placed his hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Aibou." His eyebrows lifted. _Partner?_ Where had that word come from? And why did it feel so very natural to apply it to Yugi? And what was this rush of emotions surging through him?

Perhaps it was his light touch upon Yugi's shoulder. Maybe it was the tone in his voice when he said that word aloud – with all the gentleness of an endearment. _Endearment?_ His own thoughts confused him even as Yugi finally fought his way free of his nightmare. Even though the strange thoughts confused him, his impulsive action had comforted Yugi, and that's what Yami wanted. Yes, to comfort the Hero.

No, dammit, not the "Hero" – he wanted to comfort _Yugi_ – and he had – without waking him. As one part of his mind toyed with the concept that he was behaving like a helpful ghost, helping Yugi sight unseen, another part worried at the odd familiarity of it all. Wrestling with his own thoughts and the half-familiar swirl of emotions, he shadow-walked back to his room.

"You are restless, my lord." Yami whirled. While he'd been away, the Purple Knight had entered his room.

"It-it's nothing," Yami stammered. He wondered why the eerily glowing gaze of his Guardian Knight was suddenly so hard to meet.

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

This will most likely be the last update before NaNoWriMo, but never fear, come December the updates will return.

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Fourteen – For an Honor Greater than Ourselves

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen -- Nightmare Point**

"Shadow Exchange."

"What?"

"We can ask Lord Yami to exchange our shadows. For one night you'd bear my sleepless fate, and I'd dream your portentous dream."

"But -- why? Why would you -- do this?" Yugi looked up and tried to read the expression in the Purple Knight's eyes. As always, the spectral glow of the 'eyes' within the knight's helmet stymied him.

"Because, with Lord Yami's help, I can. Because it is so distressing to you. You need a respite from being the one..."

"From being the weakest one," Yugi added bitterly.

"I was going to say from being the one having to bear up under it all," the Purple Knight told him with a note of mild reproof in his voice. "I want to help you, Yugi. Not because you are the Hero, but because you are _Yugi_. Your concern about these dreams, strong enough to bring you to the notion of hurting yourself by not sleeping, is distressing you so. There's not much I can do." The Purple Knight's lowered head indicated his feelings of helplessness. "So let me do the little that I can, since only I, with Lord Yami's help, can offer you a night free of sleep and dreams." The Purple Knight looked up. "And just so you are aware, there is a benefit for me in this, too. I have not had a single night's sleep since becoming..."

"Let's find Yami," Yugi interrupted. He felt a bit of shame that he'd let himself get so wrapped up in his concerns that he'd forgotten the Purple Knight's condition. He knew the Purple Knight didn't -- couldn't -- sleep. Even if the dream only bided its time and waited for Yugi to sleep again the next night, giving the Purple Knight one night of actual sleep which he'd been deprived of for so long was a good enough effect in and of itself to make the whole idea worthwhile. That the Purple Knight was kind enough to accept Yugi's nightmare --if it should happen to descend upon him during that one night of blissful sleep, reminded Yugi that the Purple Knight, for all his fearsome size and appearance, was one of the kindest beings he'd met since starting this journey.

Yami's touch of magic tingled a little, and the shadow Yugi cast on the ground was far more massive than any he'd cast before, but other than that, he felt no different. It was amusing to see how small his shadow appeared when attached to the Purple Knight. When night fell, Yugi didn't feel the least dulling of his senses toward sleep. He had spent an entire night up before, waiting to watch a cluster of shooting stars with his friends back home, once, but it was a novelty to not feel the pull of sleep at all.

"Come on," Yami whispered. He touched Yugi on the shoulder and tossed his head toward where the Purple Knight's helmet -- or rather his head -- dropped and nodded. Yugi realized the massive knight was falling asleep.

"But," Yugi whispered back. "That can't be comfortable!" The Purple Knight leaned over the arm of one of the chairs in the room. Yami smiled and gestured. The chair softened and spread into a large, flat surface gently taking the dozing knight into a more conventional sleeping position. Yugi blinked and saw the new shape for what it was -- a massive bed. Only then did he remember they were in Yami's shadow-tent.

"I should go and find something to do, so you can get some rest..." Yugi started dubiously. Suddenly, being awake all night while everyone else was sleeping seemed a rather un-fun prospect.

"Don't be absurd. I'll keep you company," Yami said.

"But..."

"I'm not to the point that the Purple Knight is, but my need for sleep is very slight. Besides, do you really expect me to believe you don't want to spend the night with me?" Yami lowered his chin with the last statement. His eyes flashed red and the shadows around him suddenly deepened.

"Oh, is it Lord Yami the faux vampire, again?" Yugi fought to maintain a slightly bored tone in his voice, but a slight tremor gave him away.

"That depends. Do you like undivided attention from a faux vampire?"

Yugi didn't know how to answer that. After a moment Yami grinned, letting him off the hook, grabbed his elbow, and pulled him outside. "Wha-what?!"

"Let's see how you do in a sword fight at night -- in the darkness and shadows. I don't think Joey's gone to bed, yet."

He hadn't. Fighting at night, especially when Yami took away the helpful shadow-sight, was quite a bit different than fighting during the day. Joey's magic, focused on such a small scale, invoked a safe zone around their battle field so that neither one could get hurt. Seto watched from the sidelines for a while before quietly leaving, presumably to go to sleep. Joey, yawning toward the end, asked if they were finished, as he was tired, too. Yugi and Yami stopped their sparring, then, and simply observed as the quiet hours of the night slipped by. The Drakes, Dragons, Knights, and Shadows protecting their camp exchanged their shifts throughout the night so that the guards were always alert.

A few hours toward morning even Yami succumbed to sleep. He'd leaned companionably against Yugi's side a hours before. Gradually, his voice softened as they talked, and their conversation slowed. His head dropped softly to Yugi's shoulder. Yugi didn't mind. He shifted his position gently so that Yami's neck was more straight, otherwise he reasoned Yami would get a crick in his neck or back. Once again he was struck by how young Yami seemed when he was sleeping, and the tension dropped from his face.

Yugi's mind turned toward the events of the night. He couldn't sleep, his body didn't want to, but his mind wanted to reflect on the events of the day, and the night he'd just spent. The Purple Knight's kindness touched him deeply. So did Yami's. He found himself wondering how he would have answered Yami's question if he'd been pressed to do so. Yami, faux vampire or no, had long since ceased to scare him. He wondered when the eerie glowing red eyes of the Lord of Blood and Shadows had stopped being so terrifying. They were still startling, but Yugi hadn't been frightened of, or by, Yami for a long time. Maybe that was it. Yami could still look like some sort of nightmarish vampire lord -- when he wanted to -- but he no longer acted like one.

Perhaps it was because he'd known Yami the longest, but of the Three Kindly Lords, though he considered each a friend, he was closest to Yami. No, it was nothing as simple as the duration of their interaction compared with the others. He was close to Yami in a way that he wasn't close to the others. His friendship with the Lord of Shadows was deeper than the other friendships he'd made on this journey. He pondered that, while the same Lord of Shadows slept with his head carefully cradled against his chest. Yugi sighed softly, and wondered what the new day had in store for them all.

– – – – –

"A dragon of bone and shadows, a white one with icy blue eyes, and a black dragon with fire for a soul are trapped in stone." Everyone in the room was silent as the Purple Knight spoke of the dream he'd had the night before. "I somehow sensed that it was imperative that these dragons be freed from their stony imprisonment to fight against the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos."

"But -- how?" Yugi wondered.

"I heard -- a voice saying 'The Dragons Gain' as the dream faded, and I saw -- the Point?" The Purple Knight's voice softened and reflected his uncertainty about these two facts.

"'The Dragons Gain' -- I've heard that in my dreams before," Yugi admitted. "So I'm sure you really did experience the dream I was supposed to, to show me the next step."

"The Point." The White Knight cupped his chin. "It hasss been yearsss sssince I've heard of it. Do you think it isss ssstill there?"

"There's no reason to believe that it isn't," the Purple Knight replied.

Yami planted himself squarely in front of his Guardian. "Stop being so cryptic. Tell us everything about the Point!"

"Of course, my lord. The Point is a place, at the center of the lands. The Point is where each of the three lands -- yours of Shadow, Lord Seto's of Ice, and Lord Joey's of Fire -- meet at a single spot. It has been surmised that long ago, when perhaps the lords' interactions with each other were even more fractious, this place was reserved from a piece of each land to serve as the ultimate neutral ground between the lands, where no lord's power could overwhelm another -- much less both of the other lords combined. There is supposed to be some sort of structure there."

"Even more fractious?" Joey wondered. "That's really hard to believe!"

Seto and Yami both spared a moment to glare impatiently at the Lord of Fire. He just grinned at them. "See?"

"Do you think that's where these dragons are?" Yugi wondered. "The ones trapped in stone?"

"There's only one way to find out," Yami realized.

"Yeah."

Yugi was quiet, more quiet that usual, on the road. Yami slowed his steps a bit so that he naturally fell to the back of the group. Seto, as usual, was as the head of the line. Not only were his strides so much longer than anyone, other than the Purple Knight, but he walked fast, too. Yami admitted to himself that the Lord of Dragons did try to slow down so that Yugi wasn't having to run to keep pace, but he's often forget and charge ahead at his normal speed. Even Yami found it difficult to keep up with Seto at times.

As he expected, Yugi fell back, more comfortable with the somewhat less exhausting pace.

"What's wrong, Hero?" Yami asked quietly. Yugi's head snapped around and he glared at Yami. Yami smirked at him.

"Don't _you_ start calling me that!" Yugi grumbled. "It's not at all friendly."

"Be that as it may, I can tell something's bugging you. Even if I missed it as one of the Three Kindly Lords who's supposed to help the _Hero_," Yami grinned at him again. "I'd catch it as your friend. So, what's up?"

"I feel a bit -- ashamed," Yugi admitted quietly. "Selfish, even. The Purple Knight took that dream for me, and it was the first time he'd been able to sleep in so long, and the dream must have made it awful, and..."

"I figured it was something like that. I had a chance to talk with him, before we left camp. The dream, which has become so terrifying for you, was not awful for him. Your dream, filled with images and foreboding that upset you -- the dream that seems to be tailor made to upset you -- didn't have the same effect on someone who wasn't you. For him, it was just information only. And --" Yami reached out to take Yugi's shoulder to stop him and face him. "Nowhere in the dream was the place we are going to actually called 'The Point'. Since you've never heard of it before -- none of us has -- only someone like him, who has the knowledge of this place could get us heading in the right direction so quickly."

"But..."

Yami sighed. "I think, if you had dreamed it, we'd have to back-track and go visit the Water Sage to figure out what the image and sense of the place is, instead of just knowing. That would delay us, and who knows what that delay would have cost us. Not to mention, I want to put off, or avoid altogether, any meeting with the Water Sage."

Yugi stared up at Yami. There was something so dark in his voice. "What -- happened?" he asked softly.

"I wasted too much time chasing after what was never mine," Yami replied his voice filling with a soft regret. "If he'd spoken more clearly about which lordship was to be mine, I never would have gone to the Dragon Lands or the Land of Fire. Perhaps the previous Lord of Shadows would have still been alive, and the Cold Shadows still controlled. If it had been that way..." Yami stopped, and looked for a very long moment at the back of his Guardian Knight, as the rest of the group kept walking. "He was such a splendid friend," he added in a whisper. "And my actions, and the delay, cost him his life."

Yugi shook his head. "That's not how he sees it!"

"It's how _I_ see it. I don't know what I will do if I have to meet the Water Sage face-to-face again." Yami shook off his black mood and sighed. He offered Yugi a tremulous grin. "Be all that as it may, you should not worry that your gift to the Purple Knight went awry. He was quite happy this morning to have been able to sleep for once. The dream didn't trouble him in the way you are worrying about."

"It wasn't a gift," Yugi said so softly Yami almost missed it. "I just didn't want to dream. It was entirely selfish on my part."

"Well, then, be selfish more often!" Yami's grin lit up his entire face, and lifted Yugi's mood as well. "You truly must be the Hero if your selfishness carries such wonderful benefits!" He punctuated his obviously back-handed compliment with a light punch on Yugi's arm, and ran toward the others. "Do come along, Yugi. There's hero-ing to be done!"

– – – – –

Yugi stared at the massive construct in front of him. There was no way the thing had been crafted by nature -- the hands of man, and perhaps the use of magic, had made it.

The Point. Such a simple title, and yet such a perfect one. Situated on the top of a mountain, a mountain that served as the boundary marker for the one place where all three Lands touched, the Point reached up from the artificially flattened peak and challenged the sky. There were three sides of uniform gray, (perhaps it was stone, but Yugi wouldn't swear to it) one side facing each of the Lands as if staring back with an ageless, impassive aspect.

The Point was a monument of some sort, Yugi reasoned. He wasn't sure where that conviction came from, but it was strong. He stepped back and looked at the Point as a whole. His hand dropped to the Pendant hanging from his neck.

The Pendant hung from its base, which meant the point where each of its four sides met angled down. The Point, even though it had only three sides, was the same sort of shape, with the sides meeting in the same way, at a single point. Both the Pendant, and the Point were, in fact, in the shape of a pyramid.

He wondered about the 'missing' fourth side, even as his mind latched onto the connection and began to worry at the puzzle it presented to him. As he examined it closer, he realized that the side of the Point looming above him wasn't completely featureless. In front of him, etched, or carved, or otherwise worked into the sloping side, there were a strange series of marks -- odd curves flowing one into the other serving as the base for a long, thin, straight line that pointed straight up.

There was another shape etched, carved, into this monument that Yugi recognized instantly. The void in the smoothness of this side of the Point he was unwillingly acquainted with as it was shaped like his Pendant. He glanced at the faces of the three lords and their guardians before slipping the chain over his head and lining the Pendant up with the socket that seemed to be designed for it. He pushed it easily into place. Nothing happened.

Sighing gently in relief that the Point didn't fall apart on him, or open up, or otherwise present some sort of impossible challenge, Yugi regarded the far more shallow swirly lines that were the base for the faint indentation reaching upward along the side of the Point. The odd marks seemed somehow familiar to him. Not instantly familiar as the socket for his Pendant had been, but still...

He turned his head sharply and looked at Joey.

"What?" The Lord of Fire stiffened under Yugi's regard.

Yugi smiled to reassure him. "Doesn't the second set of marks kinda remind you of the Flameblade? If you were to place it flat against the side of this thing?"

Joey stepped closer. "Yeah, it kinda does." He took the Flameblade, glanced uncertainly at his comrades, and placed it against the sloping wall of the Point. That is, he tried to. It wouldn't line up. Joey's faced flushed red at his continued inability to simply place his sword along the matching indentations in the wall in front of him. It wasn't until his sword slid, seemingly under its own power, from his grasp and clattered to the ground that they realized some sort of magic was in play.

Yugi bent down to retrieve the sword, and offered it back to Joey. "No, you try," Joey commanded. "It doesn't want to line up for me."

Yugi shrugged. Certain he was going to drop the sword too, he lined it up and placed it along the pattern in the side of the Point. To his surprise, it stayed. Except for the merest hint of the shape of the sword etched in the stone, there was nothing to hold the weapon to the side of the Point. It was as if Yugi had attached it with some sort of fixative.

"Yeah, I figured at much. Magic." Joey glared at his sword. "Now what?"

Yugi stopped gaping at where the Flameblade somehow managed to stay put against the force of gravity and considered the problem in front of him. No, not a problem -- a puzzle. Both problems and puzzles had to be solved, true, but puzzles were more fun and far less scary than problems were.

His Pendant, a different shape for a pyramid, rested fully in its socket in the Point. Lord Joey's Flameblade -- somehow -- stayed put in the slight etching in its shape just above it. The sword had to be placed hilt down. Something seemed missing. Something tugged at the back of Yugi's mind.

Three. Everything was coming at him in threes. Three lands, three lords, three knights, three swords, three sides to the Point... Yugi found his hand had crept, seemingly on its own, to touch the oddly soothing smooth shape of the Hero's Heartstone. Threes... And the blade of the sword seemed to be pointing up...

"Can you give me a lift up there?" Yugi asked the White Knight. He looked up at the top of the Point. If he was right...

The White Knight smiled his still-disconcertingly toothy grin, stooped, and took Yugi into his arms. It took only a few powerful flaps of his wings to lift them above the Point. Yugi leaned carefully over, so as to not upset their balance, and noted with satisfaction that he had been right. The Point did not come to a complete point at the top. There was a slight concavity instead. He slipped the chain of the Hero's Heartstone over his head. Responsive as ever, the White Knight carefully maneuvered them closer, close enough for Yugi to place the gemstone into the space that seemed to be a perfect fit for it -- and the Point was now a perfect point.

The entire Point lit with brilliant purple energy. The White Knight instinctively lifted them higher, while on the ground the remaining Knights and the two of the lords backpedaled out of the way. Lord Seto sprouted wings and sprang into the air instead.

All watched as the energy pulsed from the base toward the top three times. The glow seemed to brighten along the blade of the sword, but that was all Yugi was able to notice before a powerful red beam erupted from the center of the Hero's Heartstone and stabbed through the air in the direction they had come -- toward the Warrior Lands.

The red beam pulsed three times along that path and then the Point, the entire structure, returned to normal. Yugi blinked uncertainly at it a few times. The magic, the purple of the Point and the red beam had been bright, but not quite blindingly bright. He reached a hand toward the Heartstone, only to have it smacked away, while the White Knight lifted them higher in suddenly alarm.

Yugi turned his head to see Lord Seto's finest blue glare impaling him while the lord hovered nearby.

"Are you an idiot? We don't know what energy was, or if it's safe!"

"It's safe," Yugi replied. "The Heartstone would never hurt me."

"Oh, really? And on whose authority do you have this certain knowledge?" Seto lifted a highly skeptical eyebrow at him.

"It's the _Hero's_ Heartstone," Yugi said. "It won't hurt me. Besides, it's already saved me several times. Or, are you forgetting that in order to recover that," Yugi indicated Seto's Frostblade. "I had to endure your strongest attack? I'm certain it's the Heartstone that protected me."

Lord Seto backed off then, curtly nodding that Yugi could do as he wished. Despite his words, Yugi's hand trembled as he reached toward the gem, but nothing happened when he retrieved it. The White Knight landed them at the base of the Point again.

Halfway toward lifting the Heartstone to place its chain around his neck again, he was struck by a sudden thought. He lifted it over his head instead.

Immediately, a red beam, not quite as intense as before, flared from the gem in his hand and pointed into the Warrior Lands again.

"I think that's our next destination," Yugi said.

"Oh, joy," Seto groused. "Back into the land of belches and farts."

Yugi laughed. "Oh, it's not that bad!"

"Yeah, Yuge, sometimes it really is," Joey said. "Wanna get my Flameblade off of your weird-ass monument?"

"Why do you think it's my 'weird-ass monument'?" Yugi wondered. He nevertheless reached for the sword still unexplainably fixed to the side of the Point. It offered no resistance, requiring only the smallest effort to retrieve it. "Didn't the Knights say the Point was built for you 'Kindly Lords'?" Yugi handed the Flameblade back to Joey.

"Yeah, it might have been, but I'm sure it never did anything like _that_ before!"

Yugi had to admit Joey had a point. Or maybe _he_ had a Point -- one he didn't really understand, just as he had a Heartstone, a Pendant, and companions all helping him unravel a destiny he never asked for, but got saddled with anyway.

"Well, let's see where that red light leads us, now," Yugi finally said. Almost without thinking about it, he pulled the Pendant from the socket in the side of the point, and settled it back in its place hanging from his neck.

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

Those paying attention will realize that this chapter, Nightmare Point, is not the one I promised back in December. I struggled for a while as you can see, but I hope it was worth the wait. The next chapter is firmly in the works and should be ready to post soonish.

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Fifteen – For an Honor Greater than Ourselves

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen – For an Honor Greater than Ourselves**

Yugi looked up at the great, stone statue. If he squinted, unfocused his eyes, and tilted his head, it sort of looked like a dragon, but then again, it could just be a strangely shaped chunk of rock. He might well have walked past it, except for the massive stone block, covered in sinuous flame carvings, situated in front of it.

The fire carvings all around the six foot square stone block appeared decorative. There were no convenient indentations that looked like his Pendant. There weren't any words or runes. The red beam that sprang from the center of his Heartstone when he raised the gem pointed directly at the stone block.

"A – keystone?" Yugi murmured. "There doesn't seem to be any sort of puzzle attached to it for me to solve..." He walked around it again while his companions watched. They had walked around the stone block with Yugi the first time.

Yugi stopped after he completed his circuit and looked up at it. "Aha!"

"You have an idea?" Lord Yami asked.

"We haven't seen the top of it. Maybe the clue to solving this puzzle is up there."

Yami nodded. "That seems possible."

"White Knight? Would you mind...?" Yugi began. The Red Knight stepped forward, breaking his line of sight, and shook his head.

"Hero, there is no need."

"No need? What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"I knew this day would come. I know what must be done." The Red Knight stepped forward and held his hands out imploringly toward Joey. "My lord, it's time for me to fulfill my true destiny, and restore the full power of your sword."

"What do you mean?" Joey demanded. "What full power?"

"It is easier to show you, my lord." The Red Knight locked a meaningful gaze on the White Knight and Purple Knight. Each nodded understanding.

"We will exxxplain it," the White Knight offered.

The Red Knight waited until Joey placed the Flameblade in his hands. He strode over to stand before Yugi, finally kneeling before him. "Hero, I wish I could guard you and continue by your side in this adventure to the end. Please accept the power of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in my place. I only wish..." the Red Knight shook his head.

Sensing that something important was happening, Yugi murmured, "You wish – what?"

"I would have liked to meet the dragon, that's all."

The Red Knight leaped up and stood upon the center of the large stone block. "My soul is kindled of Fire. I am the weakest of the Three. My Fire must be sacrificed to release the Dragon of the Fire Lord."

Before Yugi or Joey could do or say anything to stop him, the Red Knight drew the edge of the Flameblade across his left palm. Blood that has licks of flame in it spurted from the wound. He turned the sword point down above the center of the stone, and clasped his bleeding hand around the hilt. As his blood flowed down the hilt it gathered in the void in the cross-piece. He grew weaker and weaker as his blood flowed faster. All were horrified to realize the sword was absorbing his blood.

"No! Don't do this!" Joey cried out.

"You were right to call this a keystone, Hero. For centuries it has remained here, serving as the lock keeping the Red-Eyes Black Dragon safe, hidden in the shape of stone, untouched by the passing of time, waiting for the right moment to be released, and fulfill his destiny. The fire in my blood empowers this sword to become the key to free him."

"But..." Yugi protested.

"No, no!" Joey's voice was filled with a low, anguished tone. "Not at this price. Not your _life_, Red! Come down from there and leave the dragon sealed."

"My lord – I cannot. Too much rests on what happens from here." With a cry of triumph, and the last of his strength, the Red Knight drove the sword into the keystone. A fiery flash momentarily blinded everyone. When they could see again, the flame keystone was gone. The Flameblade, somehow standing upright on its tip, had changed – lengthened, gained a broader edge, and the guard now appeared to be fashioned of licks of fire. More astonishing, they realized the dragon had been freed from stone. Its giant head nuzzled the stricken knight gently. The Red Knight's right hand lifted weakly from his grasp on the sword to stroke the dragon's muzzle.

"I did – get to – meet you!" The Red Knight turned his head and smiled a final time toward his lord, his travel companions, and Yugi, before fading into a red dazzle that flowed toward the sword. A red glow centered in the cross-piece sparkled, showing that a red gemstone has appeared in the sword.

"Nooooo!" Yugi slumped to the ground in despair. Hands helped him up. He looks up into the eerie glowing purple and dragon-like blue-white eyes of the two remaining knights.

"It isss our dessstiny. The only way to free the dragonsss, and releassse the full power of the ssswordsss for our lordsss to ussse, isss for usss to willingingly sssacrificcce our livesss."

"It's too... It's too harsh!" Yugi cried out. "We've traveled together. Each of you has saved me. How can I let you...?" Yugi shook his head, unable to articulate his horror.

"Would you render our existence worthless, then? Each of us knew, when we met you, that the time for our destinies was at hand. We could have turned our backs, we could have run away, but we didn't," the Purple Knight said.

"We believe in you, Hero. With the power we willingly give you, you will free our land from the terror of Chaosss," the White Knight added.

"But, the Red Knight just died!"

"Not quite. More of a transformation. He is no longer a knight. He has become the soul of the sword. The Sword of Fire is a far more powerful weapon than the Flameblade. One better suited for the Lord of Fire to wield," the Purple Knight explained.

Joey reached out toward the red sword. He placed his left hand over his heart in a gesture of respect as he touched the hilt with his right. Incredibly, a smile lit his face.

"He's still here! I can hear his voice in my mind. He doesn't want us to grieve, Yugi. He's truly happier this way – claims it's his destiny." Joey snorted. "He's warning me he's still got a few surprises in store for me." Joey lifted the Sword of Fire up high. The blade suddenly blazed with fire.

"Oh, ho! Quite a nifty little trick right there, Red!" Joey's words and voice were merry, but Yugi could see the anguish in his eyes. He felt the same sort of anguish in his own heart.

The dragon dropped to its belly and lowered its head to the ground. It took Yugi a moment to realize the mighty beast was bowing, as best a dragon can, to Joey.

"So," Joey reached a hand out to stroke along the dragon's jawline. "You're my dragon, huh? 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' – right? I wish..." Joey's eyes widened. "Daire? Your name is Daire? Now _that's_ a very cool name for a dragon!" Joey laughed. "And you can tell me things in my mind? This is gonna take some getting used to!"

While Joey and his dragon were getting acquainted with each other, Yugi, still trying to assimilate what had happened to the Red Knight, looked at each of his traveling companions in turn.

Lord Seto, with the blankest non-expression on his face, stared at his White Knight. The White Knight watched the Lord and Dragon of Fire, as did the Purple Knight.

Yami stared intently at a stand of trees not far from where the dragon had been trapped in stone. "What is it?" Yugi asked quietly, stepping nearer to the Lord of Shadows.

"I thought I saw something," Yami murmured, before blurring into a shadow so fast Yugi nearly missed it. A moment later, he had returned. "I was right. One of the Chaos Dragon's shades was watching us. It ran off before I could trap it. We should go. It's not safe to remain here."

"Okay," Yugi agreed readily enough. Anything to avoid running into the Chaos Dragon again! "But where...?"

"The Point," the White Knight said.

"But..." Yugi began weakly.

"Yes, the Point," Seto insisted.

The Point had changed. The side facing the Fire Lands now bore a reddish hue. One of the other sides now held the socket for the Pendant of Pharaoh, and the light indentations of a sword with the blade facing up toward the top. Yugi could tell at a glance, now that he knew what to look for, that the Frostblade would fit those markings. He shook his head against the sudden pain crushing his heart.

"No..."

"Hero, it must be done," the Purple Knight placed a gauntlet-clad hand gently on his shoulder. "It is the only way forward, and the only hope we have of defeating the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos."

"I am eager to fulfill my dessstiny," the White Knight added. "I have been many long yearsss waiting..."

Yugi didn't want to lose another knight, even if it meant freeing another dragon. While he went through the motions of the puzzle before him, placing his Pendant in the proper place, slotting Lord Seto's Frostblade above it on the side of the Point, and settling the Heartstone once more in the indentation at the top, his mind raced to find some way to save the White Knight's life from the ritual that would use his life to free the dragon. He noted without realizing it where the blue-white beam of energy erupting from the Heartstone lanced. It was not until he'd retrieved the Heartstone and the White Knight was winging them back down that it hit Yugi. It he weren't successful in finding another way, this would be the last time he could fly with this strange creature, this fearsome-seeming, yet gentle drake, who had become his friend.

He squeezed his arms around the arms holding him, an involuntary hug. A slight tightening of the White Knight's arms around him answered. "There has to be a way to stop this," Yugi whispered. The White Knight shook his head softly, then grinned. His slit-pupiled eyes were as alien as ever, but Yugi had learned how to read them. "You aren't frightened?" The White Knight shook his head again. "You – want – to do this?"

The knight nodded. "Dessstiny," he whispered.

Yugi still wasn't sure what he would do when they got there. His mind wrestled with the puzzle of how to save his two remaining knights. He tried to reconcile the new piece – that the White Knight appeared to be not only willing, but eager to fulfill his role, what he kept claiming was his destiny – with the rest of the pieces.

He failed.

– – – – –

Seto nodded curtly and handed the Frostblade over to the White Knight. He then looked on with a stony expression in his eyes. Joey, Yami, and the Purple Knight prevented Yugi from interfering. "This is truly what he wishes. Once one finds one's destiny, one seizes it with both hands, no matter the cost," the Purple Knight reminded him.

The White Knight flew up to stand on the top of the glacial keystone. "My soul is limned in Ice. I am the weakest of the Three. My Ice must be sacrificed to set free the Dragon of the Ice Lord."

The White Knight looked up, smiled grimly at the Purple Knight, bowed toward Seto, and drew the edge of the blade across his left palm. His blood, befitting his draconic nature, flowed pale blue. It sparkled with crystals of ice. He grasped the sword by the hilt as the Red Knight had done before him, encouraging his blood to flow toward the empty setting. His strength ebbed with his life. As he slumped to his knees, he drove the sword into the keystone.

A brilliant flash of lightning blinded everyone. After the dazzle had passed, Seto strode forward and claimed the transformed Frostblade – now the Sword of Ice. Unlike the Red Knight, the White Knight was nowhere to be seen. A blue gem sparkled in the cross-piece.

"Is he – okay? Is he – happy?" Yugi whispered.

"He's not here. He's gone," Seto replied. "I don't sense him in the sword."

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, freed from his paralyzing prison of stone, dropped his head to the ground before his lord. He regarded the Lord of Dragons with calm, intelligent eyes. Seto stiffened under that regard, and the merest hint of a smile crossed his face.

"What? What is it?" Yugi asked.

Seto snorted. "It makes sense, I suppose. The Lord of Warriors' knight is content to reside in a sword. My knight's soul_ is _the soul of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Evidently he always knew he was." Seto surprised everyone by reaching out to buffet his dragon's jaw playfully before turning toward everyone else.

"There's one knight left."

"And we are running out of time," the Purple Knight warned. "The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos surely realizes what we are doing. He will try to stop us."

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon stepped forward using his sheer size and bulk to force everyone to back away from conversation distance.

"My dragon – Tekhenu – suggests we mount up. He will take us back to the Point more swiftly and safely than any other way."

Yugi pondered, as he rode upon that great, white dragon's back, that his fear from before had not quite come to pass. Certainly it was quite different than it had been before, but here he was, still able to fly with his fearsome-yet-gentle friend.

_"Destiny"_, he mulled the word over in his mind. If the White Knight knew he was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, that this was his true form and power, how frustrating it must have been to be merely the drake for so many years. Didn't the Red Knight say the dragons had been trapped in stone for centuries? No wonder the White Knight had been so eager to shed his drake-knight form and regain this! Still, Yugi couldn't help but feel as if he had somehow let everyone down that this was needed. If only he were a better Hero...

Not surprisingly, the Point had changed again. One side, facing the Fire Lands, remained tinged in red. The side facing the direction they had just flown in from was now tinted blue. The final side held the Pendant socket, and faint impression of the Gloomblade.

Yugi turned, after placing both, looking for the White Knight to fly him up to the apex to place the Hero's Heartstone, and got confused when he came face to face with a gigantic dragon head instead. He laughed at both his confusion, and the familiar expression of mirth on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's face – in the disconcertingly toothy grin, and faintly glowing blue eyes.

"Tekhenu would probably crush you, accidentally, against the side of the Point if he tried to lift you on the top of his head as he's suggesting," Lord Seto noted in a dry tone of voice. "Allow me."

Yugi felt a familiar twisting of his spatial awareness as wings suddenly erupted from his back. "Thank you – although it was more comfortable to have the White Knight – er, Tekhenu, fly me up to the top." It took Yugi a couple of passes under his own wing-power to line the Heartstone up with the concavity designed to hold it, but he finally managed the feat. "Easier, too!"

He hovered proficiently enough as the Point pulsed three times. The Heartstone shot a beam of purple-black energy into the Shadowlands. Yugi had to try three times before he managed the aerial dexterity necessary to snag the Heartstone again.

"You need more flying lessons, Hero," Seto called.

"Yeah, probably," Yugi agreed. A shiver shooting down his spine made him wonder suddenly if he would ever have the chance to take Lord Seto up on his offer. As he winged about looking for the best place to land (or crash-land, possibly) he noticed how Yami stared off into the distance on the side of the point away from his own lands, while the Purple Knight stared directly toward them. "_Always a distance between them,"_ Yugi noted to himself sadly.

Losing the Red Knight was horrible, but he hadn't known it was going to happen. In a very real way it was as if the Red Knight had died. Only Joey could sense him, or hear his thoughts, from the Sword of Fire. Losing the White Knight had been wrenching, because he knew what would happen, but the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a being Yugi could see, behaved much as the White Knight had – and did seem to be happy. But, the Purple Knight... Yugi knew this last knight's tragic story. He knew the guilt that Yami felt over how his friend had perished, and what he had done to force him to remain in this plane of existence.

Aside from all that, among his traveling companions, the Purple Knight had been the first, and the kindest, and had saved him many times. He didn't feel quite so – helpless – around the Purple Knight. The lords, once he'd proven himself, had become allies and friends, but Yugi had never needed to prove himself to the Purple Knight. To lose that, to lose the one being who simply accepted him without tests, was not something Yugi wanted to contemplate.

– – – – –

The Purple Knight gazed at keystone that, even though it was formed of stone, appeared to writhe from the way the patterns trapped and twisted the light in the shadowed carvings. He turned a somehow beseeching gaze toward Yami. "My lord, I am not as my brother knights were. My life was sacrificed long ago. That I have substance still in this world is because of your power. You saved me from passing on years ago when you forged this armor of shadow to contain my soul. I can not be free of it – I can not be released from it – without your help."

"But – what will happen to you?" Yami demanded harshly. Though his manner and voice were rough, it didn't quite hide his anguish.

"I – I don't know, my lord. This semblance of life I have, this shadow existence, is your doing. Perhaps I will continue my journey and finally pass on as I started to do – so many years ago."

Yugi cried out an inarticulate sound of protest. The Purple Knight turned toward him. "It is not what I want, Hero. I hope to yet share in your adventures and continue to help as both the Red Knight and the White Knight do, in their altered forms. But, I do not know."

"It has been – hard on you, hasn't it? My selfish wish to keep you by my side?" Yami asked in a low tone of voice.

"It has been my wish to remain by your side, guard you, and assist you, all these years. But, I am nothing more than a soul trapped in shadow armor. My usefulness, in this form, has come to an end. I hope my soul is strong enough, despite my current state, to do as my brother knights have done, and release your dragon, my lord."

"This is your wish? For yourself, not just to help us, but, for you, also?"

"Forgive me, my lord. I know you meant only to help, but – this partial existence has been..."

Yami dropped his head so suddenly that Yugi knew it was to hide his anguish that he had unwittingly caused his friend so much pain.

"No, forgive me that I wasn't strong enough to let you go, and yet couldn't bear the reminder of my failing that your very presence brought me," Yami finally murmured. "But, I am stronger now than I was then. I think – I think I can give you more than a semblance of life, at least for a short while."

Shadows gathered abruptly around their lord, hearkening to his unspoken call. With half-lidded eyes, whispered words of power, and subtle gestures he shaped them and sent them flowing over his knight. The imposing and frightening aspect of the Purple Knight dwindled until he was the same shape and size of a normal man. He remained clad in purple armor as befitting a royal knight. But, the shadows has not completed their work. The visor of his helmet lifted. Yugi was amazed to see handsome features form. He was surprised to realize the knight's eyes weren't purple, they were blue. Their task completed, the shadows flowed away, and dissipated.

"My lord!" The Purple Knight pulled off his left gauntlet and looked at his hand. It appeared as flesh and blood. He flexed his fingers, delighting in the feel of his body, instead of simply using his will to direct a shadow-filled suit of armor around. "Truly you have become stronger in your power!"

"This power has always been a double-edged sword. The cost to gain it was far too high."

The Purple Knight smiled, and bowed respectfully before his lord. "It was my destiny to help you gain that power. I don't fault you that I perished."

"You don't have to. I blame myself."

"I knew I would die. The Water Sage told me the time and manner of my death years before I met you, my lord."

"You knew?!" Yami exclaimed. "And you still befriended me?"

"If I hadn't, you would have been killed, and the power to control the Shadows, and master the Cold Shadows, would have been lost. I am not, was not, strong enough to command them, Yami. Only you are. I hold no regrets for the path my destiny placed me on. Then – or now."

"I regret." Yami admitted in a low voice. "I regret how I have treated you."

"Sorrow and guilt ill suit you, my lord. I knew the reason you pushed me from your side. Please, permit me to show my devotion one final time, and give you the power you need to help the Hero save our world."

Yami threw his arms around the Purple Knight. "I don't... I don't want..."

The Purple Knight gently, yet firmly, disengaged himself from the embrace. "I sacrificed my life years ago to save you. If you do not permit me this, that sacrifice was in vain – for you, Yugi, and the world – will fall before Chaos."

Yami nodded, and steeled his expression. He unsheathed the Gloomblade and handed it to the Purple Knight. "Find a way, somehow, to stay with me, even as the Red Knight and the White Knight remain with their lords," he begged.

The Purple Knight nodded. "I will try, my lord."

The Purple Knight leaped up and stood proud upon the keystone. "My soul is wrought of Shadows. I am the weakest of the Three. My Shadows must be sacrificed to bring forth the Dragon of the Shadow Lord."

The edge of the Gloomblade bit into his left hand. Black and purple shadows oozed along with the Purple Knight's flowing blood. Yami watched with a pain-filled, unblinking intensity as his knight bled to death to awaken his sword, and free his dragon. Yugi watched too, as guilt washed over his soul that such sacrifices had been needed to help him on his quest. He felt he must not be a very good Hero that three such splendid knights had to die.

Yami broke, at the end, unable to watch and do nothing. He dashed over and leapt upon the keystone as his knight began to fall, catching him, and easing him to the surface.

"Do not – try to – stop me, my lord," the Purple Knight whispered. Yami shook his head.

"I won't. But, you shouldn't have to face this alone. Perhaps my power can help you to stay in this world, if I hold you."

"I won't deny your help, but..." The features of the Purple Knight began to flow, and darken. The details of his armor softened. "My soul is your eternal servant, my lord. Now, and forever!"

The weight of his dying Guardian lessened as the Purple Knight's shadow-life ebbed. Yami's arms filled with shadows that melted at his touch. These shadows, unlike any others, he couldn't command. They surrounded the Gloomblade and forced it down into the keystone. It turned into shadows that dissipated as swiftly as flowing water, bringing him down to the ground with gentle care. His transformed sword gained a gem that glowed with a faint purple hue. A giant dragon head, one of skeletal bone and shadows, dropped to the ground next to him as if the now-freed, mighty beast shared in Yami's sorrow.

Yami reached out and took the sword, running gently questioning fingers all along its length. He looked up and gazed into the red swirl of light that served as the skeletal Shadow Dragon's eye closest to him. He closed his eyes, and sighed. "He's not here. My Purple Knight isn't in either sword or dragon. I think he..." A sound very much like a sob escaped him as he dropped the Shadow Sword to the ground. "Excuse me!"

Yugi tried to follow to offer some sort of comfort, but Yami entered a shadow and disappeared. Again, a bitter tide of failure lapped at Yugi's heart. "Now what?"

Lord Seto gazed with extreme disfavor toward the shadow that Yami had walked through. Wisely, he kept his more critical comments to himself. "It's too dangerous to stay here. Yami will find us when he's finished..." At Yugi's impatient huff and narrowed gaze, Seto eased up a little with the disdain in his voice. "...sulking."

"Lord Icewater-For-Blood has a point, Yugi. It would be far too risky for either of us to touch the Sword of Shadows, so you better carry it. Yami will be able to find us and rejoin us whenever he's able." Joey glared at Seto on his own, then turned an encouraging smile toward Yugi. "Look on the bright side, willya? The worst is over, isn't it? Now that we have these babies," Joey drew his sword, lifted it, and let it flare dramatically. "and our dragons, the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos won't have a chance!"

– – – – –  
Author's notes –

Yeah, remember the warning about character death? Mwahaha! – Ahem! – Er...

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Sixteen – Yugi Meets the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos (again)

Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.


	16. Chapter 16

**INTERLUDE TWO**

"Are we being too harsh on him?"

In this place that wasn't quite a place, the question was asked with a voice that wasn't quite a voice. Still, the one the question was meant for responded in the same voiceless way.

"It has been a hard day for him. Perhaps it was too much at one time."

Two purple lights faced each other. One of them, the naturally more vibrant one, brightened slightly. "Do you seek to out-kind _me _with the young one?"

"N-no, it's just that Yugi's distress was so..."

"Peace, I only tease. Though to make Yugi the target of such a competition would be..."

"...would be more appropriate on another occasion. We have enough to keep track of now."

"Very true. Are you still comfortable with your role? Has there been enough variation from what we expected that we need to synchronize?"

"No, my role has gone according to plan."

"Good. Since our aspects are so close to one another, if we do synchronize, it might weaken the charade. Have you plans for your further actions?"

"Yes, as soon as this plot of yours start to accelerate."

"This plot of _ours_."

"Well, yes, I suppose so... Still, until this is over it seems as if it is your plot, and not quite mine."

"I struggle a bit with this separation, too."

"Who would have realized that the Atelier, which we thought was for the comfort of the others in the Magic Box, was for our comfort, as well," the slighter dimmer light said slowly.

"What I worry about, in all of this, is how the separation is affecting _him_," the other light responded.

"Is–is that a cause for concern?" Despite the fact there was no sound to convey tone of voice, or enough feature to show expression, the entity's shock came through quite clearly.

"I don't know. I hope not."

**Chapter Sixteen – Yugi Meets the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos (again)**

"You are unbelievable!"

Yami looked up listlessly to see Yugi, hands on hips, glaring up at him. "What do you mean?"

"This moping around has got to stop, Yami. All of us are sorry about what happened to the Purple Knight, but that can't stop us from moving forward." Yugi's attitude softened slightly.

Yami shrugged. "What difference does it make? What difference does anything make? If all our actions are fated as his was, what can possibly..."

"Yami! Our actions aren't 'fated', you know that. Look, I don't like to see you so saddened by this, but I won't have you take your upset out on your dragon." Yugi gestured and the skeletal dragon advanced toward them. "You've got to learn how to work with your dragon in order to..."

Yami went back to staring at the ground where his shadow stretched away from the afternoon sun. He interrupted, "Curse of Dragon is the weakest of the three dragons, Yugi, and I'm the strongest of the lords. There's no need for me to learn how to work with the thing."

"'Curse of Dragon'?" Yugi asked in a low, soft voice.

Yami shrugged. "The damn beast was cursed which is why the Purple Knight had to sacrifice himself. End of discussion."

Yugi grit his teeth and closed his eyes. He counted to ten. Twice. He finally heaved a deep sigh. Yami had been like this for several days, ever since they'd lost the Knights – well, transformed two of them and lost the third. "You're a moron," he finally said. Yami stared at him blankly. Yugi knew that counting wasn't going to work in keeping his anger in check any longer. "Go ahead and mope all you want. Push everyone away! Do the exact same thing to your dragon that you did to your knight and then wonder why you're so miserable. I don't care!"

He turned and stalked off, gesturing sharply for the Dragon of Shadows to follow him. The dragon cast what seemed to be an unhappy look toward the disconsolate Lord of Shadows before turning away and following the Hero. His skeletal tail dragged on the ground.

"Is that what I'm doing?" Yami asked himself in a low voice. He looked down at his hands. "Why is it that death seems to follow and swirl about me? Shadows aren't evil, and neither is darkness. Why... Why did my friend have to die?" Yami paused and amended his question. "No, he was already dead." He shook his head against the pain, and added in a whisper, "Why did my friend have to _leave_?"

* * *

"Yuge's right. Yami's gotta stop sulking and get his rear in gear. We don't know when the Chaos Dragon is going to attack again," Lord Joey said.

"Agreed. I simply stated that I understand his disappointment in the trade-off. That bag of bones shaped like a dragon seems worthless. His knight may have been dead, but at least it could fight."

Yugi caught the exchange as he returned to camp, and counted to twenty – twice – in two different languages before he trusted himself to speak and not shriek at the lords.

"Need I remind you _lords_ that appearances can be deceiving?" Yugi deliberately pulled himself up to his full height, which was anything but impressive, and emphasized their shared title with a lightly mocking emphasis. "I believe the Shadow Dragon will be important in the coming battles. If either of you doesn't believe me, you are welcome – no, I demand that you gather your forces, your sword, and your dragon, and leave now. I need your trust and belief far more than I need your power."

Lord Joey and Lord Seto each blinked at him, and neither one could hold Yugi's gaze for more than a moment.

"Hmph. Not a pushover." A slightly rueful smile passed across Seto's lips. "Very well, _Hero_. You have the – wholehearted – support of the Lord of Ice and Dragons, as well as his forces. How about you?" Seto turned and smirked at Joey.

"He has my support!" Joey snapped. He balled his fists. "He doesn't even have to ask!"

"I just hope you have the full support of the Lord of Shadows when the time comes," Seto said. He straightened from where he was leaning against one of the support pillars of their command tent and added, "I will take Tekhenu out and practice with my troops. None of us is used to my former White Knight being so massive – or so powerful. I need to adjust some of our battle tactics."

"Good idea. I'm not used to battling with a dragon on my side at all. Perhaps our forces should spar one another? So I can figure out how best to use Daire's abilities?"

"Hmm. He is a dragon. Perhaps you should place him with my troops and let me command him."

"Over my dead body!" Joey yelled into Seto's face.

"Easily arranged." Seto retorted. "Oh, very well. He is the Dragon of the Fire Lord. I suppose his talents would be put to their best use under your command."

"Damn straight."

"Besides, it would take a dragon to protect you properly in the next battle. I don't believe your Warriors are up to the task."

"Hey!"

The two lords continued to argue with one another and trade insults as they walked out of earshot. Only a few minutes later, the sounds of battle, Warriors against Dragons, shook the camp. Yugi knew Seto and Joey were only sparring, and not fighting for real. Perhaps they were letting off steam for both themselves and their troops in the mock battle, as well as accustoming their forces to the presence of the massively powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon among them.

"What am I supposed to do?" Yugi asked himself softly. "I don't know how to break Yami out of..."

He was interrupted as he was nudged, gently, from behind. Yugi whirled and found himself looking into the somehow intelligent red glow residing in the Shadow Dragon's eye sockets. "It's not your fault!" Yugi quickly reassured. "I'm certain Yami will come around, and realize how powerful and helpful you are. He's just so saddened by losing the Purple Knight that he's... Well, he's mourning. He..." Yugi stopped babbling. "Me? You're speaking, in my mind, to me? But _I'm_ not the Lord of Shadows!"

The skeletal dragon thrashed his tail once emphatically.

"Okay, but I don't know what..." Yugi agreed with the dragon's intent, that he was somehow receiving, and clambered up on the beast's back. "It's not like I can direct the Shadows or anything." The Shadow Dragon's giant shrug nearly dislodged Yugi from his back. "Hey!"

Curse of Dragon, so named by his lord, gathered his strength in his haunches, and launched himself and the Hero skyward.

* * *

Yugi surveyed the utter chaos of the battlefield below from the massive back of the skeletal Shadow Dragon. The mystic beast had an eerie aura that kept all but the Shades away, and it had proven to be quite adept at evading their attacks. With the Hero up and out of the way of the battle below, Lord Seto and Lord Joey were able to unleash their powers more fully upon their foes.

For his part, Yugi kept directing the Shadow Dragon to strafe Chaos's forces and cursed that Yami had taken off – again. Yugi had to hand it to the Lord of Shadows, when he moped, he moped with a vengeance. Even Yami's Shadows where nowhere to be seen in the fight below. If not for Curse of Dragon's invisible, but highly effective breath weapon taking down the Shades, the battle would have gone very badly for the good guys.

Despite the absent lord, it seemed as if Yugi and the Lords Seto and Joey with only the Dragons and Warriors at their command, might be able to win this battle – at least until the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos made his dramatic appearance.

Yugi moaned when the sun seemed to go out. "No, no!" Indigo clouds tattered and torn by massive bolts of green lightning appeared suddenly all around him. "This can't be happening, not now!" The nearest clouds writhed, moaned, and gibbered with half-seen tormented faces trapped within their roiling substance. The screams which had been disturbing when he had seen them from the ground before were absolutely appalling from this proximity.

"Yugi!" Lord Joey shouted from the ground. "You better get down here where it's safe!"

Lord Seto didn't say a thing. He merely sprouted white, leathery wings and took to the air. Tekhenu, the dragon who had formerly been the White Knight, flew above his lord to offer him some sort of cover from this disastrous turn of events.

"But you know there's no place that's safe from me, don't you, my sumptuous tidbit?" The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos didn't even bother to flap his wings to remain airborne. His massive bulk floated in the sky in clear defiance of the law of gravity.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Yugi shouted.

The Chaos Dragon rocked back on his tail at that. His tongue, long but not forked, flicked in and out rapidly as a snake's would. "I don't believe you. Your fear is a delicious amuse-bouche whetting my appetite for the grand feast to come." The Lord Dragon stretched and seemed to cover the length of the sky. His great, triangular head lazily dropped down, so he could see the open area under himself and spy the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Lord Seto trying to close on him from below. "Really? Do you think I'd fall for the same trick again?"

His massive tail whipped out and caught the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the chest, effortlessly hurling the mighty beast to the ground. Faster than Yugi's eyes could follow, the Chaos Dragon's tail snapped again, throwing Lord Seto in the same way to crash atop his Guardian Dragon.

Desperate to pull the dangerous Lord Dragon's attention away from where Seto struggled to regain his bearings below, Yugi urged the Shadow Dragon to fly closer and shouted. "What do you want?"

"Ah, Hero. Have I not been abundantly clear about that?" The massive dragon contrived to look mock-sorrowful with his fearsome features and clucked his tongue. "I want for you to grow sufficiently as the Hero to offer me a credible challenge. You're so close, but not quite ready to face me. Not seriously."

"This isn't a game!" Yugi growled.

The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos seemed amused. "Isn't everything a game when seen from the right perspective?"

"People have died!"

"People die every day."

"People have died because of _your_ actions!"

"Interesting that you would claim that. Who, exactly, has died from my actions? I believe, Hero, there are more who have been taken out by your actions than by mine."

That shook Yugi. Was what the Lord Dragon claimed true? After all, he had been the one who retrieved each of the swords that served as the keys to unlock the dragons for the three Kindly Lords – but the price had been the lives of each of the lord's Knights. Or, if not the _life_, at least for two of them, a dramatically altered existence. The Purple Knight, however...

"Don't listen to him, Yuge! The Red Knight wants me to tell you he's far more content the way he is now!" Lord Joey shouted up at him. To punctuate his point, he lifted his sword, which blazed fiercely in agreement.

"Your actions freed Tekhenu from the prison of a weaker form," Seto told him. "Do not credit anything the Chaos Dragon claims."

"Feh. They are lesser beings. They have no idea what they are prattling about," the Lord Dragon claimed.

"Perhaps that is true," Seto called. "But what is also true is that my people have suffered. Not the Dragons who serve as my battle forces, but the ordinary people living peacefully upon my land. Some of them have been merely killed, but others, if they are ever seen again after they've been taken, are soulless shells of who they had once been – transformed into his Shades."

"Yeah. Just look down here, Yugi. Look at all the fallen Warriors and Dragons. He commands the Knaves, and Drakors, and Shades! Whatever they do is on _him_, not on you!" Joey agreed.

Yugi looked back at the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. The mighty beast grinned, not at all contritely. "What they say is true, but, the Warriors and Dragons would not have been here at all to fight if you had not gathered them together. Consider this, Hero. Whatever guilt you wish to ascribe to me must be assumed by you as well."

Yugi couldn't help his tiny nod. It was almost as if the Chaos Dragon was trying to tell him something, something important, something with a far deeper meaning than what the surface of the words would indicate...

"Ah, doubt. It blends so nicely with your fear. But, my palate grows bored. Fear alone no longer suffices. Let's see what your mortal terror tastes like!"

His incredibly fast and undeniably accurate tail whipped out again and struck in the center of the breastbone of the Dragon of the Shadow Lord. The Curse of Dragon's mouth opened in a soundless bugle as the target bone shattered, and all of his bones flew apart. No longer supported on the back of a flying creature, Yugi plummeted toward the ground amid the broken bits of bone that had been Curse of Dragon.

"And, just so you don't have any misgivings that your paltry powers can do anything to interrupt my feast," The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos glared at the two Lords and breathed out a roiling miasma of clouds filled with shrieking spectral faces and wild spikes of electricity right at them, that quickly hid them, as well as the ground, from sight.

"YUGI!" Joey's shout rang with a tone of despair.

* * *

Author's notes –

I went around and around and _around_ with the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos about his line containing the word 'amuse-bouche'. It's not at all a common word, wandering into use into the English language from French, and indicating a specific sort of appetizer. Amuse-bouche refers to a small portion, only a bite or two, offered by the chef to his or her patrons to tease their taste buds, as opposed to an appetizer one can order from a menu. I wanted to use the word appetizer in the story for clarity and reader understanding. The Lord Dragon insisted that 'appetizer' did not have the right je ne sais quoi to convey the meaning as well as amuse-bouche. I have no idea why the Lord Dragon is insisting that French be a feature in his dialogue in this story but one doesn't argue with a dragon – especially when part of his name/title contains the word "chaos". (I just wonder where he learned how to speak French – and why he's better at it than me!)

Next chapter teaser – Chapter Eighteen – A Turn for the Worse


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen – A Turn for the Worse**

"Yami!" Yugi wrapped his arms tight around the neck of his rescuer, certain that he'd been saved. When they continued to fall, he turned his head to look at Lord Yami's face. The Shadow Lord had appeared next to him and reached out for him a moment after he started falling amid after the destruction of the Shadow Lord's 'Curse of Dragon'. "We're still falling?"

"Yes."

"Uhm... How about conjuring some wings?"

"Do I look like Lord Seto to you? I should drop you for suggesting that!"

"No, no! I just...!"

Yami's red eyes warmed as a smile brightened his face. "I'd never drop you."

"But, how does this help? We'll just crash into the ground together."

"A delicious way to die, to be sure, if I'm with you, but I'm not planning on dying today. Mustn't give those two preening lords any reason to think they're better than me in anything." Yami looked up. "I do hold it to the Shadow Dragon's credit that he's trying to save you. He might be weak in power, but he's strong in heart – or whatever a skeletal dragon has that inspires him to such courage."

Yugi gasped. "He's okay? The Chaos Dragon broke him into bits!" Yugi looked up. The Shadow Dragon, somehow made whole, folded back his skeletal wings and dove toward him. Unfortunately, Yugi was certain he and Yami were falling too fast for the dragon to reach them before they crashed into the ground.

"I felt it. His agony is what led me to you. Not to worry, though. I am the Lord of Shadows and despite my earlier misgivings, he is one of my minions. I have full dominion over him – which in this case means if I command him through the power of Shadows to reform, he does. I'm sure you don't mind." Yami winked. Yugi's arms tightened briefly around Yami's neck, this time not in an instinctive cling to a rescuer, but rather in a heartfelt embrace.

"Thank you." Yugi glanced down. Between them, somehow Seto and Joey had dissipated the weird and terrifying breath of the Chaos Dragon. Seto was even now winging up toward where Yami and Yugi were falling, closely followed by a group of the largest of his dragons. "Are you going to let Lord Seto save us, or..."

Yugi's supposition earned him Yami's red-eyed glare again. He smiled impishly into the Shadow Lord's face and suggested, "Well, do something then!"

Yami nodded with all the haughty gravity only one supremely confident in his power could exude, and smiled gravely. The next thing Yugi was aware of was the total inky blackness of the Shadows. A scant moment after that, and he was being set on his own two feet on the ground. Lord Joey pummeled him on the back in an excess of relief, very nearly knocking him down.

"Stop mauling him," Lord Seto commanded, as his alit on the ground again. "Good of you to deign to join us." His voice dripped contempt as he turned toward Yami and addressed his fellow lord. "Have you decided to stop being such a prima donna and actually fight?"

Yami's glare was so heated Yugi wondered if he would have to intervene between the two to stop a fight between _them_. Wait a minute. Fight? Fight! He turned his gaze upward. Sure enough, the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos was watching the scene below with interested, serpentine eyes. Catching Yugi's gaze, he winked, and shrugged, as if to convey 'don't mind me' and turned his attention back to the growing conflict below.

"Guys, we have a bigger problem. A much bigger problem!" A strange thought, at odds with what had happened, told Yugi that even though Yami had saved him from the fall that at that height would have killed him when he hit the ground, the energy of that fall should still have done something – unpleasant – to them. It wasn't the first time the phrase 'law of gravity' wandered across his mind, but he wasn't entirely sure what the phrase meant, or why anyone would try to impose laws upon gravity. It was a force of nature and not subject to any human-crafted law. Still...

"Yami, there was, uhm, force pulling us into the ground before, when we were falling. I'm really glad we didn't crash into the ground when you walked us through the Shadows, but shouldn't we still have had that force pushing us into the ground when we arrived here?" Yugi winced, not entirely sure he was being clear with his question.

"When I was first learning how to use my powers years and years ago, yes, there were a few instances where I got knocked to the ground changing direction like that by walking through Shadows." Yami winked. "I learned how to dissipate those forces in the Shadow Realm along the way, but this time, I thought I'd try to do something a bit more interesting with them." He gestured toward where the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos had come uncomfortably near (though Yugi thought any proximity was miles too close) and snapped his fingers.

Yugi noticed the tell-tale somber glow of a tiny shadow portal appear right next to the Lord Dragon's head.

WHUMP!

The Lord Dragon's head snapped violently sideways, as if he'd been smacked in the face – hard.

Lord Joey snickered. Lord Seto raised an eyebrow at Lord Yami. Lord Yami smirked.

"Uh-oh," Yugi said.

The Lord Dragon was not amused. Wicked dusty red spikes sprouted all along the length of his tail. Each one was barbed, and as large as a ballista bolt. "You've pushed me too far, upstart lordling."

Yugi, Seto, and Joey were each seized by Knaves. So sudden was the action that no one had a chance to respond, not the lords, nor their Dragons or Warriors, as the three were carried past a line of ringing Shades, leaving Yami in splendid isolation as the sole target for the Chaos Dragon's ire. The Shades, many of them unconfined to a solid form, reached up from their initial ring to form a dome completely surrounding Yami.

"Though I may jest with the Hero, it is a mistake not to take me seriously. A grave mistake, as I will demonstrate now," the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos warned. "Behold!"

Yami's face showed strain, and a hint of panic.

"Ah you sense it. Didn't you know, my dear Lord of Shadows? Ringed about by my lovely Shades, your forces' direct opposites, your powers are cut off. You are just an ordinary man, unable to summon your Shadows, or Shadow Walk out of harm's way. Only, I haven't anything as innocuous as 'harm' planned for you. No, no, that won't do. Certain destruction is your fate. It might alter the path of destiny for the Hero, but I'm sure fate will manage to work something out. If not, we will just have to wait however many thousands of years it might be for the right alignment of Kindly Lords reborn along with the fated Hero to try this again. Of course, in the meantime, I get to reign supreme, so you can see how this is an acceptable outcome for me. Silly lord. If you had not blind-sided me unprovoked, I could not have attacked you with killing power in earnest like this. Sadly, it's against the rules. Thank you, for giving me this opportunity to directly thwart fate. Your death, and those actions I take against everyone from this day forward, are on your head, Yami, Lord of – well, perhaps you are about to be true to your other title as the Lord of Blood – your own!"

Pinned by the Knaves, the Lords of Fire and Ice were unable to summon their special elemental powers. Their Warriors and Dragons, without the power of Yami's Shadows to assist, were unable to break through the dome of Shades surrounding the doomed lord.

The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos whipped his tail forward snapping it decisively as it reached the end of the arc, and shot hundreds of the barbed spikes directly at the Lord of Shadows.

"YAMI!" Yugi shouted in desperation.

* * *

Author's note –

Next chapter teaser – The Tip of the Sword


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen - The Tip of the Sword**

_He hasn't learned anything. He's been sulking and pushing everyone away when all they want to do is help. It's frustrating - almost to the point of pain - to watch how he treats the Shadow Dragon. How blind can he be? How can he not see the being - which he's dismissively named Curse of Dragon - only wants to help? Only wants to serve? How can he do this yet again, when it ended so disastrously the last time he pushed a faithful heart away? If not for the Hero, despair would reign supreme in his life. Why must the Lord of Blood and Shadows always be so stubborn? Why must he always be so difficult? And, all the powers that be, why must I care so much after all I've been through? But, I do. So help me, I do. His despair makes him inattentive. By wallowing in sadness, he's trapped me. It's been beyond frustrating to be able to witness, but be unable to move, or speak, or help. But now, I think I can finally act._

_

* * *

_

"YAMI!" Yugi shouted in desperation. Horrified, and unable to turn his gaze away, Yugi watched as the barbed spikes passed unheeded through the dome of Shades. The Lord of Shadows turned to look at him with an expression completely at odds with the situation unfolding around him, gentle, peaceful, and serene shimmering deep within his crimson eyes. Yami's eyes widened, and he looked down at his feet where his shadow, shackled to his ankles, stretched between him and where the Chaos Dragon continued to float in the sky.

A sharp point grew from the center of his shadow, to be flanked by two shorter points on either side. As they swiftly rose up, their bases merged into one. Yugi realized three things. These merged points bore a striking resemblance to the tip of a sword. This sword blade glowed a soft green. And, as it continued to rise from Yami's shadow revealing more and more of the being who held it, he knew the hilt would be held by an unexpected, familiar, and highly welcome hand.

"Purple Knight!"

Each and every lethal dragon barb aimed at the helpless Lord of Shadows was met by the edge of the glowing green blade, and not a single one found its mark.

"My lord, forgive me that it took me so long to make my presence known to you," the Purple Knight bowed slightly at the waist, but continued to watch the unpredictable Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos with an unwavering gaze.

"Blast you!" the Chaos Dragon screamed. "I am only permitted one retaliation attempt per direct unprovoked attack on my person by a Kindly Lord - and you ruined it!" The dragon seemed to gather his composure. "Very well. It would have been easier, but I will follow the thread of fate through the harder way if I must."

The Purple Knight ignored the raving Dragon Lord, gathered some innate magic in his hand, and ran his palm down the length of his blade. Charged with this power, the blade glowed fiercely. The Purple Knight held it up, and a brilliant discharge of energy tore the dome of Shades apart. Yami's Shadows completely surrounded their lord and his knight in the span of a single heartbeat. With the return of the Shadow Lord's power, Shelleene, Kisara, and Bryce, the Shadow Guardians within Yugi's, Seto's, and Joey's blood, manifested at the Shadow Lord's thought. They made short work of the Knaves seeking to hold them back. Yami's Shadows, Seto's Dragons, and Joey's Warriors secured a safe path back to Lord Yami's side.

"Very well. I am driven off - this time." The Lord Dragon turned his attention toward Yugi again. "Just remember, Hero, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. To have the power to defeat me, the power of legend, you must know _true_ despair and heartache. I would wish for sweet dreams for you this evening - but I suspect they will be anything but pleasant. Until we meet again - which we most assuredly will - fare well!"

The lost and lonely howling of the tortured clouds merged with the din of rage from the ground forces of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. After a long moment of sonic torment, the noise stopped, as abruptly as it started. The sky cleared of the dark forces just as abruptly, though it was touched with the dusky beginnings of twilight. Yami turned to look at his companions after this dramatic turn of events, and was almost knocked over as Yugi rushed past him to throw a hug around the Purple Knight's chest.

"You are okay! You are back! We missed you! What happened? How did you...?" Yugi babbled incoherently. "You were magnificent protecting Yami like that! What's going on?" Yugi squeezed a bit harder, then stepped back. "You're shorter than you were before, aren't you? I used to only come up to your waist!"

The Purple Knight smiled a bit uncertainly and blinked at the barrage of questions.

"Yugi!" Yami laughed, and pulled the Hero away from his Guardian Knight. "Give him a minute. I'm sure he will explain everything."

"Of course, my lord. But, would it not be better for you lords to see to your forces first? Though the enemy has retreated, for now, it would be wise to post guards and establish watches. Night begins to fall upon us. Also, there are those who were wounded in the battle. They need to be tended to first," the Purple Knight suggested.

Yami nodded. Seto and Joey, though as curious as anyone else, immediately turned to assess how their Dragons and Warriors fared in the battle. Everon started mustering Yami's Shadows to establish the guard perimeters and take the first watches, as they had been absent during the fiercest of the fighting and therefore had no casualties.

"I will wait until everything is settled, but it is good to be by your side once more, my lord. Still, my ability to remain manifest now that the danger has passed wanes. Once the camp has been established, please summon me again."

"Summon? How do I...?" Lord Yami began.

For an answer, the Purple Knight smiled, even as the details of his face and armor softened. The color leeched rapidly from his form, as did its solidity, and sank toward the ground. The sequence looked tragically familiar, causing both Yami and Yugi a moment of panic before they noticed the shadow that the Purple Knight had become remained cohesive and moved with purpose to merge into the shadow Lord Yami cast upon the ground.

"Of course!" Yugi exclaimed. "I should have realized! Joey's Red Knight became the soul of his sword, because he's the Lord of Warriors. Seto's White Knight is the soul of his mightiest dragon because he's the Lord of Dragons, and the Purple Knight as you are the Lord of Shadows - he's become the soul of your shadow."

"He is - part of my shadow?" Yami asked in a wondering tone.

"It makes sense!" Yugi insisted.

Yami nodded. "Yes, it does. But I don't deserve..."

"Yami! It has nothing to do with deserving or not - it's just - magic." Yugi shrugged his shoulders. "It's how it works. I should have been able to figure it out, that he wasn't really gone. It's like a magical puzzle." Yugi's face clouded at his words.

"Don't worry about it." Yami was quick to reassure. "No one really could have known, so there's no way anyone holds you responsible. If anything, I'm to blame for not realizing how my own magic would affect things."

"That's not it..." Yugi looked up, a slightly lost expression on his face. "I had some deeper thought, but I lost it."

About an hour later, with the three lords' forces settled for the night, and a central camp complete with shadow-wrought tents established, Yami looked down toward where his shadow flickered against the ground in the firelight. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. The Purple Knight rose up from his shadow as before, opened his eyes almost as if waking up, and smiled.

"I knew you would be quick to understand, my lord."

"Actually, I didn't. Not really. It was Yugi. He realized it first - that you are now the soul of my shadow."

"That is a good way to put it as I am not quite your Guardian Knight as I was before."

"You," Yugi blinked as the Purple Knight turned to regard him. "You don't look the same as you did before. Well, you do, but not before _before_, if that makes any sense."

The Purple Knight looked down and regarded his hands. "You are right. I don't know how, it is most unexpected, but for some reason, though I am now part of my lord's shadow, I appear to be alive, truly alive, once more."

"That's why you are shorter and look more human," Joey said. The Purple Knight appeared the way he did just before the sacrifice to free the Shadow Dragon. Yami had brought his full power to bear on his friend to give him 'the semblance of humanity once more' moments before the sacrifice. The Purple Knight now resembled that more human aspect - far less fearsomely huge and wearing an open-faced helmet that revealed his features.

"If my friend must dwell in my shadow, and I am the Lord of Shadows, there is no reason why he cannot enjoy being alive whenever he is roaming free from my shadow." Yami's unconcerned answer bore an oddly reassuring arrogance. "How long can you remain here - uhm, that is outside of my shadow?" he asked the Purple Knight.

"I don't know. This is as new to me as it is to you. I don't feel tired and hollow, like I did right after the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos left. I'm not sure why."

"While we were setting up camp, I concentrated on imagining that I was creating a connection to the Well of Shadows on the one hand," Yami lifted his left hand and closed it as if grasping something. "and a connection to you on the other." Yami repeated the action, this time with his right hand extending it toward the Purple Knight. "Then, when I summoned you from my shadow, I mentally tied those two threads together," Yami mimed the action of tying a knot in front of him. "so that you can remain manifest for a long time - I hope, as long as you want. Otherwise, I have the feeling that you are only able to remain here for a brief time when I summon you consciously, or appear whenever I am directly attacked. Am I right?"

"I believe so. Your magical connections are quite ingenious, my lord, and they seem to be effective as well."

"Not to mention it is easier to have you available, and clearly visible, at most times, instead of having you appear unexpectedly in the midst of battle," Lord Seto observed.

"There is that."

"Well, not to be rude or anything, but some of us were involved in a pretty fierce fight, and I'm exhausted!" Lord Joey didn't even try to hide it when his mouth opened wide in a jaw-cracking yawn. "It's great having you back and all, and maybe now ol' gloom and doom will actually crack a smile once in a while, but I'm all for gettin' some sleep."

Yugi nodded while trying to stifle a yawn of his own.

"You forgot to craft a doorway in my room," Lord Seto rounded on Lord Yami. "How can I respond to my Dragons during the night in a timely manner if I have to wander around in this, this..."

"...very cool shadow pavilion," Lord Joey supplied.

"Yes, I admit it is cool, but I still need a door to the outside!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind having an easy way to get to my Warriors' side if needed myself," Joey admitted. "Yami? Could you...?"

Yami theatrically rolled his eyes, heaved a hugely put-upon sigh, and winked at Yugi. "Looks like I have to deal with these two lords' suspect taste in interior design. You don't have any complaints about _your_ room, do you?" Yugi shook his head, and smiled. "Good! Nice to know someone appreciates my work. Have a good night, Yugi." The three lords, in a low rumble of mostly teasing squabbling, left the large central room.

Despite his relief and joy at the return of the Purple Knight, a knot of worry twisted in the back of Yugi's mind. What had the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos said? Oh, yes, something about true heartache and legends. He grasped the Pendant of Pharaoh and wondered if he would ever be free of its hold on him that brought so many mystical dreams, dire portents, and the bonds of destiny.

"Fret not, Hero. Only the last coils of fate remain," the Purple Knight told him.

"Do you know what is going on - what I have to do?" Yugi asked.

"No, not exactly. I can merely sense that the power of your heart is nearly a match for the power of the Dragon Lord. It falls to us to protect you until your power outshines his." The Purple Knight smiled at the utterly confused, and very weary, expression on Yugi's face. "For now, you should leave off worrying and get some sleep."

"And dream, no doubt," Yugi replied sourly.

"Probably. But, the only way out..."

"...is through. I know." Yugi stared at the ground for a long moment, then sighed, and looked up. "Good night, Purple Knight. I am so glad you are back!"

Despite his apprehension, Yugi's exhaustion carried him straight to sleep where he dreamed of red, blue-white, and black-shot purple globes of energy. After a mighty flash of light and power, each globe split apart. In the wake of the photonic event, he recognized three groups. The Red Knight, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and the floating Flameblade were arranged in a circle around Lord Joey. Likewise the White Knight, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and the Frostblade surrounded Lord Seto, and the Purple Knight, Curse of Dragon, and the Gloomblade encircled Lord Yami. Finally each group surrounded the Pendant of Pharaoh, which floated serenely at a point equally distant among them.

_You must release us._

_What? _Yugi's dreaming self somehow responded in a voiceless way. Some alien force leaned on him.

_It has been eons since we have been whole, _a different voice stated, ignoring Yugi's question. The pressure on Yugi's mind increased.

_Who is talking?_

_This fractured existence must end. _

_What do you mean? _Yugi was getting impatient at being ignored by these voices that somehow leaned on him with increasingly uncomfortable pressure.

_It is finally time for the Legends to rise once more._

_What Legends? I don't understand. _Yugi's mind struggled against the hold sleep, and this dream, cast upon him.

_The truth must be released._

_Yes, the truth. _Another unknown voice joined the other two. Yugi somehow sensed a cold power in the soundless voice. The pressure on him had increased to the point he couldn't seem to respond. Relegated to a completely passive role in this dream, Yugi wanted to seethe, but couldn't even manage that in the face of the overwhelming power swirling around him in this dream-scape.

_It is time for the disguises to fall away, and for true power to be released._

_Only the young one can do it._

_Is he strong enough?_

_If he wishes to save all from Chaos - he must be._

_Free us!_

_Release us!_

_Let the Legends reign supreme again!_

The three distinct entities, unified in their single purpose, deliberately leaned down on Yugi with the most awful pressure, as if trying to instill their command deep in Yugi's mind.

_To combat Chaos..._

_Release..._

_Legends..._

_Three..._

"How? How do I release you?" Yugi fretted as he woke and sat upright in bed. A gentle touch on his shoulder anchored him. "Oh, that was bad!"

Arms closed around him, offering mute comfort. Yugi leaned into the strength and wished with all his heart that the Purple Knight were able to protect him from the dreams as easily as he protected Lord Yami from Chaos's minions.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?"

Yugi shook his head, somehow sensing the shadow-knight could see his gesture despite the darkness. "No, not now. The morning will be soon enough. No worries, I'm not about to forget!"

"I harbored no concern on that score, Hero," the Purple Knight told him. "Rest." Yugi found himself gently encouraged to lie flat in his bed. "Yami's room is next to yours, and I am guarding the corridor leading to both rooms. Now that the dream has passed, nothing else should trouble you this night."

"Thank you." Reassured by the Purple Knight's words, Yugi found that sleep was indeed lapping at the edges of his mind. "I wonder... who would know... about the... Legends..." So drowsy was Yugi that he barely noted that the Purple Knight's hand rested briefly upon the Heartstone. A single pulse spread from the stone across his chest leaving an odd sort of comforting warmth in its wake. He didn't resist as the pulse of warmth carried his mind into a dreamless sleep.

The Purple Knight closed the door carefully behind himself. "The Legends, hmm? Are we up to that point this soon? And I so newly returned. I only hope he is ready - and that the _other_ will take up my duty of offering our Hero comfort when he needs it..."

* * *

Author's note

Hopefully the return of the Purple Knight was worth the wait. He appears so humble and unassuming, but he seems to have a distinct penchant for drama.

Next chapter teaser - Walking with Legends


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen - Walking With Legends**

"I'm just sayin' we could've taken him - if Yami had been there supporting our efforts with his Shadows!" Joey jabbed the stick in his hand fiercely at the cooking fire, causing sparks to rise up.

"I doubt it. His Shadows are not powerful enough to tip the balance of power." Seto scowled at the sparks that danced too far from the cooking pit until they fell to the ground as instantly chilled former embers.

Joey glowered at Seto. "Are you sayin' you don't think we can ever win? Why are you with us, then?"

"I didn't say I didn't think we could ever win. I don't believe that Yami's presence at our last encounter with the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos would have made any difference." Seto paused and looked up. "As to why I am 'with you' I am not. I am with the Hero. I believe in him. Good morning, Yugi."

"Blaurgh." Yugi's inarticulate comment accompanied a bleary-eyed half-glare in the general direction of the two Kindly Lords.

"Wow, he's really not a morning person, is he?" Joey left off poking at the fire and stood up.

"You are just now noticing this? Makes sense, I suppose. You are rarely up as early as this yourself." Seto crossed his arms and smiled coolly at the Lord of Fire.

"Forgive us, lords, we didn't realize he was up and about yet. We will take care of him." Vialla bowed toward Joey and Seto as Celador grasped Yugi by the elbow and led him away. "We have royalberry hearthcakes cooling at our tent, Hero," Vialla told Yugi. Though still prone to stumble as if still half-asleep, Yugi went with the elven siblings willingly enough.

"I trust you are feeling more alert and ready to face whatever this day brings?" The Purple Knight sat on the log next to Yugi and offered to fill Yugi's mug with more coffee a short while later. Yugi's eager acceptance made him smile. "I am sure you don't wish to discuss it, but discuss it we must. What can you tell us about your dream?" Only then did Yugi realize that Lord Joey and Lord Seto had followed behind the Purple Knight.

"I'm scared of it - the dream. Nothing bad happened, but I think bad things are about to because I just dreamed it," Yugi admitted slowly.

"You mentioned the word 'Legends' last night." The Purple Knight prodded gently.

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, evidently listening to the conversation from the edge of camp, whipped his head around swiftly and Joey yelped.

"It seems as if my dragon knows something of it. Don't tell me _you_ know what these 'Legends' are?" Seto demanded.

"No, my sword might, though. It jumped. Kinda-sorta. Well, mentally, I guess." Joey drew his sword and rested the blade of it reverently across his left palm as he gazed at it.

"It must have been a very vigorous jump to affect that tiny lump of grizzle you call a brain," Seto retorted.

"Hey!"

"What do you know about the Legends?" Yami asked his Guardian Knight as he shadow-walked right into the conversation.

"Very little, my lord. Just a line of a prophecy the Water Sage told me once about the Point being both the 'grave' and the 'birthplace' of Legends," the Purple Knight replied easily enough. Yet, shadows of worry seemed to gather within the confines of his helmet, darkening his face.

Yugi shivered. "I have a bad feeling about this. I don't want to go to the Point again."

"You are aware, Hero, that even with the power you have amassed, we cannot defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos? That you dreamed it indicates that we need these Legends to succeed," Yami said.

"But, I think there is more loss than gain - somehow," Yugi replied slowly.

"Naw, if so, we'll just backtrack and try somethin' else. Let's at least go to the Point and check it out!" Joey suggested.

"I guess - we have no choice," Yugi agreed slowly.

They left the bulk of their troops in the camp, reasoning that there wasn't much their fighting forces could do at the top of the mystic mountain. It gave their Warriors, Dragons, and Shadows a chance to rest and regain their strength after the various battles they'd fought against the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos's minions. Ashelocke, Yami's skeletal Shadow Dragon, would only be able to carry his lord the entire distance. Daire, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon likewise bore the Fire Lord. Seto locked eyes with Tekhenu for a moment in silent communication before he tossed Yugi onto the back of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and lifted his hand in a negligently mystic gesture to endow both himself and the Purple Knight with wings for the journey.

* * *

"It's - bigger!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Must be some illusion. It can't be bigger. It's just a weird structure on a weird mountain - they don't grow," Joey disagreed.

"He's right. There is less area at the top than there was before. There's barely enough room for the dragons to land." Seto pointed and spiraled down himself to confirm that the flat, broad area was indeed large enough to serve as a landing runway for the dragons. Even though each dragon crowded toward the near side after landing, Yami's Shadow Dragon, the last to descend as he was the smallest, still came perilously close to sliding over the edge.

"Huh." Joey shaded his eyes with his arm and gazed at the structure itself. "It hasn't got any bigger. Why is there less mountain than before?"

No one tried to hazard an answer. There didn't seem to be any obvious damage or erosion that could account for the significantly smaller area. Leaving the dragons in the landing field, the rest of the party approached the monolith. Seto dismissed his and the Purple Knight's wings to get them out of the way.

The focus of Yugi's eyes softened in a semi-familiar fashion as one side of his Pendant started to glow. "Element to release sword," he muttered. He gestured toward Joey's sword. Bemused, the Lord of Fire surrendered the Flameblade to the Hero. Yugi started to walk around the sides of the Point held in the thrall of his odd daze. Yami indicated Yugi, and the edge of the mountain that he was walking perilously close to. Both Seto and Joey nodded, and paced alongside Yugi flanking him so he couldn't walk any closer to the edge.

When Yugi got to the middle of the side of the Point it started to glow a faint red. He looked down at the sword in his hands. Only then did the lords realize that the impression of the length of the sword in the side of the Point had changed - even as the sword had changed.

"Point to power up sword." His vague gaze seemed to take in the altered sword impression on the point. Another side of Yugi's Pendant lit at his words.

He slowly walked around the corner of the red-glowing side to the side of the Point that faced the Dragonlands. He stared down at the sword in his hands for a long moment, then up at the Purple Knight, then toward the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, where he and the other two dragons shifting uncomfortably on the tiny bit of land still available for them on the top of the mountain.

"Knight to release Dragon..." Another side of the Pendant of Pharaoh lit at his words, and the side of the Point facing Seto's Dragonlands started to glow a faintly bluish-white.

Expecting it now, the lords paced alongside Yugi as he walked around the corner to the final side, the one facing Yami's Shadowlands. It glowed already with a faint black-violet energy. Unlike before, Yugi walked right up to the side, where the impression of Yami's Shadowblade was faintly visible.

"All three to power up lord?"

He shook his head after murmuring these disjointed phrases. The rather blank expression on his face, that had become so familiar to the lords, this time seemed to change from a vague curiosity to a faint horror. His movements were hesitant, almost as if he were warring with himself and not entirely certain that he wanted to do whatever his Pendant-induced trance compelled him to do. In a motion too swift for the observers to stop, Yugi tried to place Joey's sword against the imprint of the Gloomblade on the pyramid face. The entire Point flared with energy, lashed at Yugi, and flung him away.

"No!" Yami cried out as he reached for Yugi, but just missed.

Yugi pitched over the side. The Purple Knight dove off the side of the Point after him, and caught the inert Hero in his arms. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon immediately took off, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and the Curse of Dragon only a wing-beat behind. Tekhenu positioned himself under the falling Knight and Hero, deftly caught them on his back, and carefully returned them to the Point. Yugi appeared unharmed, but seemed to be profoundly unconscious.

"We should take him back to the camp," Joey said.

"No. Best to watch him here. If this happened to him because of the Point..." Yami argued.

"But that is my point! If the Point did this to him, and we take him away, he should get better, right?" Joey demanded.

"It's worth a try," Seto said.

Yami stared at his fellow lords for a moment. It seemed the only time the Lord of Fire and the Lord of Ice agreed on anything, it was something that involved Yugi. "All right."

The trip was short-lived. The only dragon strong enough to bear two riders was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Yugi began to writhe and spasm in Seto's arms (as the Dragon Lord wouldn't permit either of his fellow lords to ride his dragon), even though he remained unconscious, once the dragon took to the air and winged away from the Point. Reluctantly, the lords agreed it was best to keep Yugi here and hope he woke up on his own.

Yami set up a small shadow camp between the base of the Point and the dragons' roost. Two of the dragons either circled the air around the Point, or rested at the base, while one, usually the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, remained between the camp and the drop off as a barrier to the Hero walking off the edge. They were concerned that Yugi might walk around in a daze as he had done when retrieving the various swords. The Pendant of Pharaoh around Yugi's neck glowed fiercely in a way they had never seen before.

After a night of worry, where each lord kept watch one third of the night, and none of the dragons even tried to sleep, the Purple Knight, who had also stood watch the entire night, called out. "My Lords, something is happening!"

"Fire, then ice, then shadow." It was Yugi's voice, thick with sleep and muffled by the shadow-tent material. "Fire, then ice, then shadow."

Yami stared intently at the shadow that composed the tent, and it dissipated, whirling away into nothingness in the weak morning light that stained across the Point. Revealed, Yugi tossed on his sleeping pallet in the grip of a nightmare. "Fire, then ice, then shadow." He twisted around, still sleeping, and Joey pointed.

"Look!"

The Pendant of Pharaoh glowed with a bright, piercing light. "Fire, then ice, then shadows!" Only then did they realize that each time Yugi uttered the litany, it was with greater intensity than the last time.

"Why does he keep saying that?" Seto demanded. He looked away from the increasingly bright glow of the Pendant, and flicked his irritated gaze across his companions, finally settling his sights on the Purple Knight.

"Fire, then ice, then shadow!"

"I don't know, but he seems to be compelled to repeat it," the Knight replied. Yami made as if to go to Yugi's side. "No, my lord. It might be dangerous to touch him now. Better I risk it, than any of you."

"But..." Yami protested.

"At the worst, if I take an injury, you can recall me from your shadow - or have you forgotten already, my lord?" The Purple Knight smiled slightly, knowing that Yami had indeed forgotten that change in his guardian and friend. He turned and took a single step toward Yugi.

"Fire! Then Ice! Then Shadow!" The call ripped roughly from Yugi's throat, while his back arched completely off his pallet. The Pendant, which was now glowing as painfully bright as the sun, flared. Everyone staggered, somehow feeling that power flash through their souls, as well as washing over them physically. After an alarming moment, when each feared he had been rendered blind by the flash, dazzle-sparkled vision returned.

Joey was on his hands and knees, staring at the ground. "What the hell was that?"

Seto immediately noticed the giant void that had been filled with the bulk of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon only a moment before. He gasped, and raced to peer over the edge. He watched in relief as the dragon opened his mighty wings and caught himself from his fall long before nearing the ground.

Yami and the Purple Knight knelt next to the Hero, the locus of that incredible psychic blast. Yugi's eyes blinked, then opened. He raised a hand to his head. "That was bad." He started to shake.

Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi, and helped him to stand. "Let's move away from here." He glared at the shadow pallet and it obediently disappeared.

They walked over toward the dragons' roost, until Seto's lifted hand halted them. Yami wanted to get Yugi as far from the Point as possible while remaining on the mountain. He left his arm across Yugi's shoulders, mutely offering comfort. Ashelocke and Daire, the Curse of Dragon and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, circled looking for a way to land. Evidently, though they had not seen what happened, they too were caught up in the psychic backlash of the power flare from the Pendant of Pharaoh.

Yugi watched Tekhenu, Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon move aside as much as possible after landing to make enough space for the other two dragons. Though it was vaguely silly watching the three great beasts, each one bigger than the last, jostle, sidestep, and shimmy so that each one had enough room, he didn't smile. Bleak shadows surrounded his eyes, and he couldn't seem to meet anyone's gaze for more than a moment or two.

"I don't want to talk about it," Yugi said in the lull that developed once the dragons had settled themselves.

"You will have to let us know..." The Purple Knight started.

Yami motioned him into silence. "All right. You've just woken up, and it's obvious this was a very unsettling dream. Breakfast first?" All of them knew that while the Hero was normally a cheerful and optimistic person, he did better on a full stomach. At Yugi's nod he continued. A gesture served to solidify shadows into a table and chairs for everyone who wasn't a dragon to seat themselves. "We have the rations we packed at camp, since there's no room to start a fire up here. The dragons just got settled, it would be rude to ask them to move."

"I don't mind the rations," Yugi said, though a slight flash of disappointment slid across his face.

"Here ya go!" Joey presented Yugi with a steaming mug of...

"Coffee!" Yugi pounced on the offering and downed a large gulp. "Thank you, Joey!"

"How did you contrive to make coffee with no fire?" Seto demanded.

Joey smirked. "You can give him wings." He waved his hand as if that was but a trifle. "I can use my ability as the Lord of Fire to manage the well-timed cup of coffee! Which lord has the more impressive powers now, hmm?"

Seto lifted an eyebrow and turned away, but Yugi caught the faintest smile on the Lord of Dragons' face before it was completely obscured by his movement.

He shook his head. The not-as-fractious as they liked to think it was by-play between the Lords of Ice and Fire made it even harder for him to even consider that his dream was prophetic, indicating the next step he had to take as the Hero. He used the next swallow of coffee to look surreptitiously at the Lord of Shadows. Unfortunately, it wasn't as hidden as he thought, as Yami was watching him closely. Directly behind Yami, the Purple Knight also focused on him. Yugi sighed. "You're going to make me talk about it, aren't you?"

"The last time you tried to avoid it, there were consequences," The Purple Knight reminded him. "These dreams have proven they will make themselves known."

Oh yeah. Before they found the dragons - that had been the dream that led them to the Point the first time. The time that lost them the Knights. Well, maybe not lost, entirely, since Akai was now somehow the spirit of Joey's Flameblade, and Tekhenu, Seto's White Knight had evidently been the incarnate soul of the White Dragon all along. Yugi closed his eyes against the remembered pain. The Purple Knight. They really thought they had lost him forever. Yami mourned the most, leaving everyone behind as he went to some private place and surrounded himself with shadows of sorrow. If not for the most dangerous of circumstances, they never would have realized that the Purple Knight hadn't been lost when they gained Ashelocke, Yami's Shadow Dragon. The Purple Knight had been transformed as his fellow Knights were - not into sword or dragon, but into something of a guardian shadow, living within his lord's very shadow.

Still, Yugi feared that his dream this time pointed to a far different outcome - one that might lose him all the friends he had made on the path to becoming the Hero his pendant insisted he already was. _If I've got some power to save the world, how is it I'm so easily manipulated by a piece of pushy jewelry?_ Yugi thought.

"Yugi? Did you dream show you anything about the Legends?" Yami asked.

"Like what the word 'Legends' even means in this context," Seto groused.

"And why this hunk of rock is smaller than it used to be? Back up, Daire! You're crowdin' me!" Joey pushed playfully at his dragon's head, which was indeed crowding close. All the dragons were contorted into odd shapes to remain on the small ledge, but crane their necks around so they could look at the Hero and hear the conversation.

"No, there wasn't anything about the Legends. Or even the Point. But... I did dream of each of your elements. Fire, then Ice, then Shadow..."

"You kept saying that before you woke up," Yami told him. "Over and over again, like it was important."

"Did I? I guess it might be. But..."

"What is it? Out with it, Yugi, we are going to get it out of you eventually. Who knows what the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos is doing while you dither!" Seto snapped. Yugi stared up at him with a reproachful look. Everyone, including his own dragon, stared at Seto with similar expressions. "You know I'm right," he added more gently. "The dreams are upsetting, I do understand that, but they are the only clues we have as to how to defeat the Dragon of Chaos."

"You're right." Yugi put his coffee cup on the table, pushed his chair back and stood. He paced uncertainly a few steps, then turned back. He looked at each one, even the dragons, for a long moment, his earnest eyes somehow searching and sad.

"Fire first. A sword, your sword, Joey, floating on its own, blade up, and blazing with fire. The glow of the fire spread and touched your dragon, somehow limning it with fiery light. Not like the dragon was on fire, more like he was outlined in non-burning flames. And Akai, the Red Knight, even though I know he is also the soul of your sword, he was there, too. All three surrounded you, as if they were giving you power, all of their power, and then..."

Yugi paused, and looked down. He shook his head, not wanting to continue. After a long moment he looked up and forced himself to finish. "They gave you their power, then it went out."

"What went out?" Joey asked.

"All of it. The sword, the dragon, the knight, then you, all glowing with the outline of fire - all of it going out - and I couldn't see any of you anymore. It was the same for the Frostblade, Tekhenu, and Seto, except it was a blue glow that I knew was ice, and the glow surrounding the Gloomblade, Ashelocke, the Purple Knight and Yami was a shadowy purple. Each time, once it seemed as if the power transfer was complete, the glow went out. I'm afraid - afraid that - it means I have to lose all of you."

"You can't get rid of us that easily," Joey said.

"What?"

"Doesn't it seem weird that he's always worried he's gonna lose us, yet we are still here? I admit, freeing the dragons was a bit - rocky, but we didn't lose anyone, not really." Joey grinned. "Doesn't it seem as if the Hero is tryin' ta get rid of it, that he worries so much about it?" Joey placed his hands on his hips and half-turned toward the other lords.

"That's not it!" Yugi shouted. "That's not it at all!"

"I know." Joey reached out and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I'd just rather see you mad, than sad. Even if it's mad at me."

"I guess." Yugi looked down at the ground again.

"You know." The Purple Knight stared at him. "You know what to do. You know what the next step you have to take is."

"Yeah," Yugi finally replied. "I didn't dream it, but somehow, I know what to do. I just... I don't want to. Not if it means risking all of you."

"Do you know that it's risking us?" Joey demanded.

"N-no, not exactly..."

"You can't decide something so important based on vague feelings," Seto told him flatly. "Not when there is so much at stake."

"But..."

"Lord Icewater for Blood has a point - er, that is, he's right. Wrong side of right, but that's as close as he can ever get. If you know what you need to do, let's give it a shot. A warrior faces things head on, remember? He charges right in and..."

"Waits for the ones who know what they are doing to save his sorry ass from his reckless consequences," Seto finished.

Joey wheeled and glared at him. "Look, I'm tryin' to get the Hero to go along with this and you aren't helping!"

"Both of you, knock it off. There's an easier way to determine if this is the only course of action open to us," Yami said.

"Really, now?" Joey folded his arms and smirked.

"Do tell." Seto followed suit.

For an answer, Yami approached Tekhenu. "Would you be so kind as to permit Yugi to climb aboard, and fly him - slowly - away from the Point? And be ready to turn around and return immediately if he should call out?"

Tekhenu stood, waited for the other dragons to vault off the edge, and unfurled his wings. He dipped one, leaned low to the ground, and crooked a leg to give Yugi easy access to his back.

As Yami had feared, the further Yugi traveled from the Point, the greater his discomfort grew. After only a moment Yugi reluctantly called out for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to return.

"As I suspected. This is the next step that must be taken, Hero, whether you want to or not," Yami said.

Yugi closed his eyes, and nodded. Convinced there was no other option, Yugi gestured for Joey to give him the Flameblade.

"Are you sure of this? Last time it hurled you off the mountain!"

"Last time, I deliberately placed the sword against the wrong side," Yugi told him. "I really don't want to do this, but I have no choice. Forgive me..."

"For what? For bein' the Hero? Whatever happens now, it's not your fault. None of us," Joey looked up at everyone else, his fellow Kindly Lords, the sole remaining Knight, and the three dragons. "not a single one of us blames you for any of it. It's the fault of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. Now, let's get this over with!"

Yugi asked Lord Seto to manifest wings for him. He flew up to look at the top of the Point, wondering if he needed to place his heartstone into the concavity as he did before. To his surprise, the shape of the top of the Point had changed. It took only a moment of reflection for him to realize what needed to be placed now to make the construct complete. He slipped the Pendant of Pharaoh off, dropped the chain into the hole that now made him think of the loop at the top of the Pendant, and used the now upside-down Pendant itself to form the completed top of the Point. After he landed, Seto's gesture got rid of the now-superfluous wings.

"Okay, you and Daire stand over here, near the side that faces your lands." Yugi looked down at the sword in his hands for a long moment, then to where Joey waited next to his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "Here goes," Yugi murmured, placing the sword lengthwise, pointing up, in the impression on the side of the Point. A sheet of red energy flared across the entire side of the Point, then raced up the side to coalesce at very top of the Point, in the corresponding side of the Pendant of Pharaoh. After a moment, a red beam shot out across the sky, over the heads of the Lord of Fire and his dragon. It reminded Yugi of the locator beam they had used the last time to find where each dragon had been trapped in stone, but it was much more focused, and nearly instantaneous, instead of being the steady beacon they had followed before.

After only a moment the beam returned, magnified a hundred-fold, shaking the mountain with a thundering that sounded as if the very sky was shrieking at being torn apart. The red energy latched onto the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and pulled him with stunning force toward the side of the Point. The dragon screamed in betrayed protest, and scrabbled uselessly against the beam dragging him, clawing deep furrows into the rocky ground. Only then did Yugi realized the Flameblade was gone, and the very Point had changed. Instead of being the solid side of the monolith that had borne the impression of the Flameblade, the side facing the Firelands had become a whirling portal seething with red energy. Despite Daire's desperate resistance, the beam drew the dragon through into that portal.

Joey looked up from the marks his dragon had left in the solid stone and met Yugi's eyes. The Lord of Fire and Warriors' eyes blanked out, becoming an eerily glowing pupil-less red. He turned, and without word, expression, or hesitation followed his dragon into the maw of red energy. The entire event, from the moment Yugi had slotted the sword against the side of the Point, and the disappearance of both dragon and lord into the portal it had become, took less than a minute.

"JOEY!" Yugi cried out. "No!"

Eyes wide from what they had just witnessed, unable to articulate anything, Lord Seto and Lord Yami could only look with dawning horror into the fiery maelstrom Lord Joey had willingly walked into.

* * *

Author's note

I know it's been a long time since I updated this story. I had the hardest time taking my raw notes for what I wanted to happen and flesh them out into writing worthy of sharing. On the plus side, what was to be one chapter developed into three (the other two are complete, they just need a bit of rewriting and polishing, so they will be posted very soon), and an interesting twist developed that might become the third follow-up story to The Remedy.

I have a favor to ask of any readers who like Seto Kaiba, and/or who like Eric Stuart, his English voice actor – specifically anyone who likes Eric Stuart's music. There's a short note at the top of my profile page. If you have a moment, would you please read it?

Next chapter teaser – Legendary Fire, Legendary Ice


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty – Legendary Fire, Legendary Ice**

Two flares of power, one purple and the other red, floated in a velvet darkness. Unlike the other time they conferred with each other here, a window showed what was happening in the realm of physical reality. Both watched as Yugi, his aura stained with a brush of purple, slotted the Flameblade into the side of the Point that faced the Firelands.

"It is time. The Hero performs the ritual," the purple light noted.

"Must it be so harsh?" the red light replied.

"Trials must be overcome to discern one's true strength. If everything is easy, or too comfortable, there is no challenge. You know that."

"Yes, but..." the red light fell silent watching the unfolding events through the reality-spying window.

The lights watched as the returning energy drew the dragon through the portal and the lord followed. At that same moment, a yellow ball of light appeared in the formless place. It shivered in place for a long moment before darting over.

"What? The chances of you becoming aware during the transfer of control are..." The purple gleam managed to convey a chuckle. "Chance. Ever your strength, Joey. I shall no longer rail against your surprising facility with chance. Instead, I shall seek to enlist your help."

"What's goin' on?" the yellow light, who answered to the name 'Joey', demanded. "What's happening to me? Where's my body?"

"Here, in this place, I am the supreme power. This is not only a realm of the spirit, but it is also a spiritual realm that I myself created."

"Does that mean you expect me ta bow down ta you as a god? That is, if I could even figure out how to do so..." The yellow light squirmed and shivered. "I can't even figure out what the heck I am right now."

Again, a strong sense of mirth flowed from the purple light. "No, I am no god. What it means is that I am able to do some pretty incredible things here. Like place your soul into the care of another."

"What?"

"How best to explain... What if you were to climb aboard your dragon's back, but not take up the reins? Let him decide where you fly?"

"I trust Red-Eyes."

"This would be the same, but in a spiritual way. Your actions will be guided by this one." The red light flared. "All will be explained satisfactorily - in time," the purple light promised.

"Why?" Joey asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you need me? Why not just have red over there do whatever it is you need? Why do you need me to try to ride on a ball of light...?"

"That's not exactly what... I suppose the image is appropriate enough, though. Your place in the adventure from this point forward has been set. For everything to work out properly for Yugi, it must be this way. You were not supposed to even be aware of this part of it, but now that you are, I am hesitant to simply cast your spirit into unconsciousness. However, if I must..."

"So you're sayin' I really don't have a choice in the matter." A sulfurous stain spread across the yellow light.

"No, you do have a choice. What I need to happen will happen no matter what, but you, Joey, can decide if you wish to be aware of what happens. I can send your awareness to sleep, if you prefer."

"I don't 'prefer'!"

"I understand your trepidation and anger, and normally I would not do anything of this nature to anyone, but, for Yugi's sake..." the purple light began.

"Okay," Joey abruptly agreed and the yellow glow softened.

"What?"

"If it's for Yugi - look, I don't know what's going on. I never met the guy until a few days ago, but it seems as if I've known him all my life, or maybe in a past life. Even if I didn't, he's a friend. If this is for him... If it has ta be this way..."

The yellow light shivered in place, for a long moment. A pulse from the purple light stopped the movement. "There is no need to be fearful. It is not my wish for you to suffer; indeed no harm will ever come to you here. Your deep friendship has always done you honor, and is a source of strength for him. There is a need for those that Yugi trusts to be cold to him. Far easier for one I hand-picked for that to accomplish this than one who cares for him as much as you do. Sleep."

"But, you said I could choose!"

"You have. You will sleep - but you will dream. What happens while you are not in direct control of your actions will unfold as a vivid dream while your soul sleeps."

The yellow light dimmed.

"Now. I leave the next part in your hands," the purple light directed.

The red light flowed over and tethered the faint yellow one before speeding toward the window focused on the physical world, and through its margins. The purple light left behind watched, as in the reality window, a flash of red on the side of the Point indicated that the transfer had been successful.

* * *

While Yugi, Seto, and Yami, along with the Purple Knight and the dragons, stared on with dawning and uncomprehending horror, they noticed movement and something coalescing within the red miasma of power. A huge flash stabbed across the Point and stained each one of them with the color of blood. A figure walked through the portal, and the side of the Point immediately settled into a blank, featureless wall of inert stone once more.

"I- I remember!" The Purple Knight exclaimed. He turned and looked up at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, who nodded vigorously at him.

"Remember what?" Seto demanded.

"It's been a long time," the figure that had emerged from the Point approached and nodded in recognition toward the Purple Knight.

"Joey!" Yugi exclaimed and darted forward, delighted to see the Lord of Warriors return unharmed. To his surprise, the lord was now garbed in full red armor, complete with cloak and helm, markedly different in appearance to the gleaming gold armor he had worn before. To his greater surprise, the Purple Knight held up one hand, to stop his progress. "He is not Joey. Not anymore," the Purple Knight told Yugi as he stepped between Yugi and the newcomer. "My memory has been unobscured. I know you, now - my lord Hermos," the Purple Knight greeted, as he dropped to one knee to offer homage.

"Good. Then you must realize we don't have any time to waste. The Dread Lord will surely sense that I have returned and try to stop us. We must recover the others before it is too late." The lord stared for a long moment at Yugi, an oddly wondering expression on his face.

"Recover?" Yugi said, nonplussed by the stare and by how strangely Joey was acting.

"These two are unworthy of standing near me." The lord glanced with extreme distaste toward Seto and Yami. "These vessels served their purpose, I suppose, but it is time for these puppet lords to fill their destined roles and for true power to be released."

"But, Joey!" Yugi protested.

"I'm not Joey." The new lord let loose an exasperated sigh. "Explain it to the Hero, Knight of Shadows. Quickly. We have no time to lose!" He stalked off to gaze off the edge of the mountain toward the Firelands.

"What's going on?" Yami demanded.

"Why is Joey acting so - odd?" Yugi asked.

"He is not Joey. Not any longer. He is Hermos..."

"He looks like Joey, except for the new armor, and sounds like him. He's just not acting like him," Yugi interrupted.

"It is hard to understand, Hero, but Joey is - rather, was, a - oh dear. It sounds so dismissive to put it the way my Lord Hermos did, but it _is_ accurate. Joey was born to be a vessel. His soul, as so many others before his, carried a remnant of Lord Hermos' power. He was born into this time, to be on hand for the coming of the Hero. His soul's destiny was always to become part of Lord Hermos."

"What sort of mystical nonsense are you talking about?" Seto demanded coldly.

"It is for this that each of you had been born - your souls are the conduits the True Lords may use to re-enter our world. It is for this that each of us, your swords, knights and dragons, is here. We power the gate that permits the souls of the True Lords - the Legends - to rise once more."

"I am no one's vessel!" Seto shouted. "My destiny is what_ I _decide to make of it!"

Hermos stalked back at the raised voice and stared at the Lord of Ice and Dragons. "Despite your pathetic power, you are so like your true self. Critias never does see the need for unity until it is nearly too late. If you stay as you are, my power will forever outstrip yours, and annexing your lands will be an easy matter - assuming either of us has lands once the Chaos Lord has his way."

"Is there - nothing - of Lord Joey in you now?" Yugi looked up into Hermos' harsh features and asked.

"Of course he's in me - as are all the other vessel souls of all the other Kindly Lords of Fire and Warriors that have lived in this world during all the aeons I was hidden. I know you, Hero. I have traveled alongside you, I've worn wings granted to me by this one's power, and slept in the shadow camp provided by the other one. Perhaps I am being too harsh with them - for they have achieved what countless numbers of vessel-souls before them have failed to do - bring all of us to this Point, in the company of the Hero, so that we might break the hold the Dread Chaos Lord has held over our world for far too long."

Yami's expression cleared a bit at this, and he considered Hermos thoughtfully with considerably less hostility than before.

"Still, their power is but a drop compared to the oceans contained in the souls of my fellow True Lords. Their existence is merely a construct meant to bring us to this place. Their souls were crafted to be vessels to call forth the souls of the True Lords from their place of waiting - and our power has been held by our swords, knights, and dragons until the reawakening. No one is dying here, Hero." Hermos shrugged. "Everything is happening according to the grand plan."

"It's a stupid plan!" Yugi shouted.

"It was the only way we could find to defeat the Chaos Lord. We tried everything else! Should we just give up and let that him destroy all we hold dear?" Hermos rounded on Seto and Yami. "Could you 'Kindly Lords' turn your back so completely on your people that you will cling to your selfish existence out of some misbegotten sense of self? Surely you feel the urging to be complete, become whole, once more - even as the Kindly Lord Joey did."

Yami and Seto surprised Yugi by nodding.

"If it is the only way to save our lands..." Yami began.

"...and the people who depend on us..." Seto continued.

"NO!" Yugi shouted. "You can't!"

"Yugi - we - you have no choice. It's - destiny." Yami said.

"Don't use that word," Seto ordered.

"What word should I use, then?" Yami asked.

"No word. The time for words is over - it is time for action."

"No! No!" Yugi cried out and shocked everyone by flinging himself at Seto and hugging him tight. "Hermos doesn't seem like a bad person, but he's not - he's not Joey! You always seem so grumpy but I know that there's a kind and caring heart under it all. It's bad enough we lost Joey, and the sword that used to be the Red Knight, and Daire, but I don't want to lose you and Tekhenu, too!"

"Yugi." Seto carefully returned his embrace, then gently pushed him back. "The Harsh Lord is right. I can feel it within me, a pulse that I will have to answer. I don't feel like some sort of vessel or tool, but there is something powerful and grand I can sense just beyond my reach. Maybe Joey screwed it up and that's why Hermos is such a jerk." Seto smirked at Hermos who merely looked bored at the insult. "All that aside, if this is the only way anyone can defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, we have to do it. I don't believe in fate or destiny, but I do believe in duty. It is my duty to protect the people of my lands - of all the lands - and if this is the only way to gain the power to do so - it is what I must do."

Yugi stared up at Seto's face for a long moment, then walked off. His shoulders were slumped, mutely showing everyone how defeated by this turn of events he felt.

"With your leave, my lords," the Purple Knight murmured, bowing toward them before Yami nodded once, granting his permission.

The Purple Knight found Yugi with the dragons. He was stroking the massive front paw of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Yugi..."

"It's not fair," Yugi said tonelessly. "It hasn't been fair since the start."

"I'm not denying that."

"It's really unfair to you and Tekhenu, here. You aren't lords who get to decide, you just have to follow what _they_ say. Like I do," Yugi said.

"That's not how it is. Tekhenu and I," the Purple Knight reached forward himself to touch the paw in front of him. "we chose to follow our respective lords. We could leave, if we wished. We don't wish. Isn't that right?"

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon nodded deliberately.

"This turn of destiny is hard, Hero. It is hard for us, and hard for our lords, and hardest of all on you. There is no need to fear the True Lords, though. Hermos seems harsh, but he is dedicated to defeating the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. Not for glory, or fame, or power, but because that is what he must do to save the people of this world. Lord Seto and Lord Yami understand that. As do Tekhenu and myself."

"I understand it too," Yugi admitted after a long moment. "I don't like it, but I do understand it."

"It will be easier. I think, with Lord Hermos, it was - startling. You know what to expect this time."

"I don't think that will help," Yugi said slowly.

Seto walked over. "I guess I shouldn't call him Lord Flamebrain, but Hermos is becoming more and more insistent. I'm not at all wild about this, Hero, but, I think it's time."

"Seto, we can find..."

"Don't, Yugi. There isn't any other way. I'm not happy to find I've been manipulated to be here at this time, for this purpose, but I meant what I said. If this is the only way to save people from the Chaos Dragon, it's what I must do." Seto looked up to meet his dragon's gaze. "Tekhenu agrees with me, so you can rest assured that neither of us is being forced against our will - not really. It's not what I would have chosen - I agree with you, it's a stupid plan - but seeing as it's the only way we have to fight the Chaos Dragon, I will go along with it. So, let's get this over with before I cool 'True Lord Hermos' down - literally - as only I can."

Yugi smiled at that. Yeah, Seto would do just that - which Yugi thought might not be the best thing to do with the even more arrogant than Kindly Lord Seto (who'd have ever thought it?) True Lord Hermos...

Only moments later Yugi looked on stoically as the massive blue-white beam returning from the heart of the Dragonlands picked up the unprotesting Blue-Eyes White Dragon and stuffed him into the dimensional maw the side of the Point had become. The Frostblade had summoned that beam with the mystic power of the Point, focused through the Pendant, and sent it forth. As with Lord Joey, Lord Seto's eyes washed into a blank, pupil-less stare, but blue-white this time, and he walked, under his own power, and without any evident reluctance, into the howling ice-driven dimensional storm that had already devoured his dragon.

Yugi shook his head as the Lord of Ice and Dragons disappeared from sight. "Oh, Seto... Forgive me!"

* * *

The purple light focused away from Yugi's distress as displayed by the reality window in time to realize another had arrived. A pure white ball of brilliant light floated serenely nearby waiting to be noticed.

"My time grows short, my old friend. If not for my place in your adventure, I would have faded completely away by now," the white light said.

"Is there nothing I can do?" the purple light asked.

"You have done all you could - more than I could have ever asked. Just grant me one final favor, and give me one final promise. Allow me control of the young one, you know the one I mean, and I will ensure this coil of the adventure unfurls as it is supposed to. Place him in my power and my care."

"That would be most helpful - if you are certain." The purple light hesitated. "After all, he is the one who..."

"I know. But, the evil that cost me all is gone from him. I want to do this for you, and for him, but mostly for myself. It is the closest I will come to that 'might have been'."

"Done. And the promise?"

"Do no grieve when I am gone."

"That will be difficult. I..."

"How well you know me." The white light managed to convey affectionate amusement. "The form you first gave me here suits me perfectly. But, I know you as well. Do not grieve. It will pain me to think that you do."

"I can only promise to try not to."

"That is enough. Now, what do you need me to do?"

"I think this will be easier on you if you get to manifest the kindest one. More amusing for me as well, given who he is under the trappings of the adventure." The purple light bobbed as if chuckling. "This will be a smoother transfer than the last one now that I know what to expect. It will be possible to keep him unaware through the whole thing."

"I will take care of him. And, in case there is no time when this adventure is over - farewell, my friend."

A blue-white ball suddenly flared into being.

"Wha-?" the newly arrived light exclaimed.

"Ready?" the purple light asked.

"Ready!" the brilliant white light replied. The white energy stooped to pounce on the newly-arrived ball of blue-white light, before scintillating then winking out of the spiritual place.

Through the window to the other side, the Point flared again.

* * *

Yugi wasn't surprised this time to almost recognize the being who stepped through from the other side. The planes of his sharp features, the distinctive color of his eyes, and the bearing of the man were identical to Lord Seto, but this transformed lord wore deep blue armor distinctively different from the non-armor attire the Kindly Lord had worn.

"My lord Critias." As before, the Purple Knight offered overtly respectful homage to the newly arrived True Lord.

"No need for that, Knight of Shadows," Lord Critias reached a hand down to encourage the Purple Knight to rise. "There is no reason to stand upon ceremony between us." He turned, with a faint smile on his face. "Hero Yugi, permit me to introduce myself. I am Critias, the True Lord of whom the Kindly Lord Seto was the concealing key. Unlike my hot-headed counterpart, Lord Hermos, I do not hold the Kindly Lords in contempt. In many ways, theirs was a harder task than ours - one they fulfilled admirably - with your help, of course."

"I am pleased to meet you, Lord Critias. Still, I could wish that the circumstances had been..." Yugi stammered.

"I do regret that we did not have the foresight to realize what effect our plan would have on you, Hero. I can only assure you that causing you any distress was not our intention."

"I already told him that," Hermos said peevishly.

Critias closed his eyes as if seeking patience and the best way to deal with the situation. "I am sure you did, Hermos, but there are times your attempts to offer support are less than comforting."

Yugi felt drained. He left the two True Lords to their oddly polite argument, and walked over to stare up at the one remaining dragon. Critias did seem nicer than Hermos, but he wasn't Seto, any more than Hermos was Joey.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself aloud.

"What you have to do," a familiar voice answered, as arms wrapped around him.

"Yami, do you think we might have enough power with those two that I don't have to lose you and the Purple Knight, and Ashelocke, too?" Yugi asked.

"I have a feeling that we won't be able to avoid it," Yami replied after a long moment. "Our powers have always been in balance - certainly for as long as I have lived, and evidently, for countless lives before that. I don't believe the Point will let you go until you have the power of all three True Lords on your side."

"I think you are right," Yugi agreed miserably. "But I'd stay here, for the rest of my life, to avoid losing you..."

"Yugi," Yami's arms tightened around him. "I understand how you feel. But, the task is still the same. The challenge is still there. The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos is still at large, roaming the lands, destroying everything he touches. He must be stopped, or none of our lands will ever be free, or the people safe."

"I know." After a long moment, Yugi asked, "Do you think, when this is over, and the Lord Dragon of Chaos defeated, that maybe, well, the True Lords might go back to wherever they were, until they are needed again, and Joey, Seto, and you might be able to return?"

Yami released him at that, and turned Yugi around to face him. "There's a thought. I don't know the power of a True Lord, but perhaps it can be done. I'll promise you that. In as much as I am able, I will return to you, Yugi."

Yugi smiled at the promise. "Along with the Purple Knight, and Ashelocke, and Joey, Seto, Tekhenu, the Red Knight..."

"Of course! Everyone. If it is within the power of a True Lord, your wish will be my command." Yami placed his right hand over his heart and bowed toward Yugi. "Shall we find out if the True Lord I am to become has such power, Hero?"

"Let's."

_Bless you, Yami, for trying to make this as easy on me as possible. I know that's what you were trying to do, by offering me hope you will return, _Yugi thought, as he watched the purple shadowed beam sweep Ashelocke and the Purple Knight into the seething shadows behind the dimensional rift of the the shadowside of the Point. Yami didn't watch as his dragon and knight were taken from him. He locked his gaze on Yugi's eyes instead. Yugi could tell some idea occurred to the Lord of Blood and Shadows, but not what it was, from the slight smile that crossed Yami's face just before his eyes changed as Joey's and Seto's had, blanking out into an eerie pupil-less purple. He walked, as the two Kindly Lords before him, with a steady pace, into the portal. Panic spurted in Yugi's heart. He knew, somehow, that this would be the last time he would ever see...

"YAMI!"

Yugi's unthinking dash toward that portal himself was halted by Critias' firm, yet gentle, hold on his shoulders. "He warned me you might try something like this. Hero, beyond the rift is no place for you. Remain calm, and Yami's True Lord self will return."

Yugi stopped struggling at that, and turned to look up into Critias' face. "So there's still a chance he isn't really gone?" The surprise and dismay that flickered through Critias' eyes startled him. "No...? But...!"

* * *

Author's note

The path through the rest of the story is clear. Yugi's adventure begins to wind to its end.

Next chapter teaser – Legendary Shadow, Legendary Darkness


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One – Legendary Shadows, Legendary Darkness**

The purple light, the only entity remaining in the spiritual place, mused. "Only the last one left now - the hardest one. Swift and sudden would be best, I suppose - and forgiveness to be asked for later." Through the window, Yugi placed the Shadowblade against the proper side of the Point, the unleashed energy of the sword shot across the sky to the designated place, multiplied, and returned, sweeping the Purple Knight and Ashelocke, the Curse of Dragon, through before the Lord of Shadows and Blood followed. Energy flowed into the spiritual space, some of it fractionally increasing the glow of the purple light while the rest coalesced into a discrete golden light.

"You!" The golden light exclaimed.

"Me." The purple light agreed.

"What is going on? Where are we?"

"I regret that I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain right now. All will become clear - eventually."

"I demand to know! What are you...?" The golden light pulsed with displeasure.

The purple light sent a spike of light toward the golden one. It had the force of a magical gesture. "For now, I need your soul to sleep."

"Sleep?" The golden light wavered, as if suddenly groggy.

"Yes. Sleep, and dream - while I direct your actions."

"What do you mea-!"

The purple light, which had watched each sequence of the ritual from within the confines of the spiritual place, swept toward the window to reality, gathering up the golden light up to itself along the way.

* * *

Yugi watched with a hopeful, unblinking gaze, as the shadows within the dimensional nether-space slowed and a figure formed.

_Teal, _he thought. _His armor is teal. It should have been purple._ No, the True Lord probably didn't like the same colors Yami did. _Why am I thinking of him as if he's gone - for good? He promised me... _

The negative side of his personality answered. _He may not have had any choice._

"Hero," The voice addressing him sure sounded like Lord Yami. "I am Timaeus. Now that the Kindly Lords have completed their task, and you have returned our souls along with our full power into this world, you are free to leave the Point and confront the Lord of Blackness and Chaos."

"Yami...?"

Timaeus' face assumed a slightly forbidding expression. "I regret to inform you that Yami's promise to you is one he would not have been able to fulfill. That part of me knows the pain you must feel at that, but I will not have you distracted from your task with a false, useless hope. Even if it were possible, I assure you, once that part of my soul that had once answered to the name 'Yami' tasted the fullness of being that a True Lord possesses, he would not wish to regress back into being merely a Kindly Lord. Sorry."

Critias glared at Timaeus as Yugi walked away wrapped in a disappointment too deep for words. "Still as short-sighted as ever, and still missing your eye. You'd think with all the power you had at your disposal in returning to existence, you would have managed to take care of that - oversight."

"Your 'clever' word-play bores me. In part, it is for that missing eye that I continue to fight. Remember who deprived me of it. I would not weaken my resolve to fight by restoring it now."

"Useless revenge," Hermos scoffed. "Go after the Hero, Critias. He seems to object to your presence least of all. Timaeus and I will start talking tactics and design a strategy."

Yugi turned from the edge of the Point. The truth was he was stranded. There wasn't anywhere else he could go on his own. There were no dragons who could ferry him to the ground any more. He could barely stand being around the True Lords - each of them looked and sounded like his friends, even many of the unconscious gestures were the same - and those similarities somehow tore at him more deeply than if the True Lords were completely different from the Kindly Lords. It wasn't as if the True Lords were evil, or even mean. Even Hermos seemed like less of a jerk now that the other two True Lords had been recovered.

Recovered. Yeah, for them, it was a recovery. For him, it was nothing but loss. Yugi thought about it. He'd come to the Point this time around in the company of three lords, three dragons, one sentient sword and one knight - each and every one of them a friend. Now, he had three 'True' lords, whatever than meant, and no friends.

"Not true."

Yugi whirled, not realizing he'd said anything aloud until he heard the voice behind him.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, and certainly didn't mean to startle you, but that's not true. Each of us, Hermos, Timaeus, and myself knows, and more to the point, _feels_ the bonds of friendship you formed with each of our lesser, 'Kindly' manifestations. We would not have it any other way."

"But... You aren't..." Yugi sighed, frustrated with the impossibility of trying to explain his feelings, but trying anyway. "Look you aren't bad, in fact, of the three, you are the kindest one, if I can say that without somehow insulting you by using that word, but you aren't Seto. Maybe you have his memories, buried in you somewhere, and maybe, I can learn to trust and become friends with each of you, eventually, but to me, it's as if my friends - died."

Critias regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. "Not death, more of a translation into what they should have been all along. I can't explain it, maybe the Water Sage can, once we defeat the Dread Lord of Chaos. It was his spell after all that sealed Chaos, hid our souls, and kept our power safe in the keeping of sword, knight, and dragon all these years. For now, please, stop moping so we can defeat the Lord of Blackness and Chaos once and for all. You have no idea how long we've waited for this moment to arrive!"

Yugi looked at the monolith of the Point. It still reached up toward the sky, but now seemed like an inert, dead thing - a fitting gravestone marking the spot where he had lost all his friends. What was that prophecy the Purple Knight recalled? That the Point was the grave and birthplace of Legends? It all made horrible sense, now. "I guess there's no reason to stick around here."

"Well then, Hero. Allow me to take you back to where our armies wait on our return," Lord Critias said, before he morphed, right in front of Yugi's eyes, into a dragon. _The dragons who accompanied you before are gone, but you are not completely without the support of dragons, even now, Yugi._

"You're talking to me - in my mind?" Yugi asked, staring up at the dragon that was even more massive than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon had been. Critias, as a dragon, possessed deep blue scales and lethal-looking silver claws.

_Cool, huh? Trust me, Hero, you have gained far more than you know by releasing us Legends. It might take some time, but we will prove our worth to you. I could give you wings, as Lord Seto used to, but after the light shows the Point put on while recovering us, it would be best for me to carry you, myself, in case the Dread Lord of Blackness and Chaos is waiting to attack. He has most certainly been alerted to our return._

There was that. Yugi hadn't even thought of it. If nothing else, these three True Lords had years of actual combat against the Dragon of Chaos on their side, and knew what the unpredictable enemy would likely do, Yugi reflected as he clambered up and seated himself on the dragon's back. _Perhaps, with their power and help, it will be possible to defeat Chaos once and for all._

_That's the spirit. Now, come on! _Hermos' voice 'sounded' across Yugi's mind. It was colder than Critias' but nowhere near as disdainful as Yugi would have thought.

Yugi could only gape as a gigantic red dragon, and a colossal teal dragon winged away from the Point. Critias sprang skyward and took his place drafting off of Hermos' right wing, with Timaeus on his left. It took Yugi only a moment to realize why the dragons flew in this formation. It was to offer him the most protection. He'd assume that Critias was the most adept flier, after all, Seto had been the Lord of Ice and Dragons and that had to mean something, now. Hermos, no doubt, carried the twin skills of Fire and Warriors that had been Joey's, so his taking the point position made the most sense from a combat point of view. And Timaeus, with his skills of Shadows and Blood could undoubtedly offer excellent support from his off-wing position.

_And that is why you are the Hero, Yugi. It is that skill of yours that will lead us to our victory __over our foe,_ Critias' 'voice' in his mind carried a blend of pride and warmth, which suddenly, somehow, eased Yugi's heartache, just a little.

* * *

A long, low laugh rolled out and boomed across the sky like gentle thunder. A giant spectral paw, banded in dusky red and indigo scales, reached down from the clear blue sky to knock at the top of the Point, and snag a talon through the chain of the small object so dislodged. "It seems the Hero forgot something - something important. I will be certain to take advantage of his absent-mindedness. The best-laid plans of magic and men..." The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, with the Pendant of Pharaoh clasped in one mighty claw, manifested fully, and flew away from the Point.

* * *

Yugi had to admit, to himself, even though he wondered if it was possible to keep anything to himself now, that flying a-dragonback, with three dragons mind-speaking with him, was one of the coolest things that had happened since he left home. The focus of the conversation never strayed far from the subject of the Lord Blackness and Chaos, but Yugi didn't mind. He learned a lot on the flight back to camp.

_Aeons ago, the lords Timaeus, Hermos, and myself were the supreme power throughout all the lands. Though we had our differences, and at any given point we were waging various battles with each other, the balance of our powers assured that never would one lord triumph completely over the combined might of the other two. Eventually, except for skirmishes where our lands marched alongside those of another lord, peace settled._

Timaeus added the next part of the history lesson. _That is, until the Lord of Blackness and Chaos appeared. To this day, we have no idea from whence he came. Faced with such a foe, we three True Lords did what we had never done before - combined our powers against a common enemy. We found that he was far too powerful for us to defeat, even with our combined might. _

Yugi nodded, before realizing the dragons couldn't see. "I see." That was no good either. The wind ripped the words out of his mouth so fast he was sure no one could hear him.

_Don't worry about it. We sensed your 'nod' the first time,_ Timaeus told him. _You will get used to talking to us this way._

_Is this something we can use in battle, for silent communication?_ Yugi asked internally.

_Only if we are in dragon form. Otherwise, we must follow the limitations of the human form. _Critias replied. _I usually assume dragon shape and fight alongside my forces, _he added.

_Realizing that the Chaos Lord represented something our magic could not fathom, we enlisted the aid of the greatest magic-weaver in the land, the Water Sage. He warned us it would take time for him to research what he could and devise some means to stop Chaos - if such a thing were even possible, _Timaeus continued.

_It took a year and a day,_ Hermos' mental tone was subdued. _A span of time when the Chaos Lord ruined my once-beautiful lands, and destroyed more than half my people._

_Hermos' people did suffer the brunt of it during that dark time. _Timaeus' mental tone was soft, bringing Yugi to the realization that the three True Lords were in better accord with each other than the three Kindly Lords had been, maybe even better accord than they, themselves, knew.

_But all of our lands felt the Chaos Lord's destructive pall. The Water Sage told us we would not be happy with the results of his research. It was possible to stop the Lord of Blackness and Chaos, but it was beyond our power to do so. Also, the one who might have that power would not be born for thousands of years and would yet need our help and abilities. We are long-lived, but not as long-lived as that. The only consolation the Water Sage could give us was that he had devised a massive spell we could cast that would not only ensure that the 'Hero' would have everything he needed at the fated time, but that we could trap the Chaos Lord until the moment of the Hero's birth as well. Even if the Hero failed in the end, our sacrifice gave our lands a time free from the terror of Chaos, _Critias explained. _Therefore, we met at the Point, the one spot that is of equal distance from all three of our lands. The Water Sage brought a fabled, ancient relic, the Pendant of Pharaoh, and through its magic, we were able to combine our powers._

Hermos shivered, and Yugi abruptly realized he knew what Timaeus meant, when he told him that they could sense his nod. _That moment felt like death._

_It _was_ death, in a way, _Timaeus noted. He turned his head to look directly at Yugi. _Each of us True Lords had not only our individual powers to distinguish us, but also three other mighty forces. Our swords. Our dragons. And, our guardian knights. We had to somehow preserve them for this time, when the Hero arrived so that we could be reborn as ourselves in the world. So, the Pendant of Pharaoh powered our swords to serve as the keys. With these keys we could use the Point to stop time for our dragons, sealing them in stone. They, along with our knights and the Kindly Lords were the guardians of our power, and the key to release our souls and bring us back into the world at the appointed time. The Water Sage had found a way._

Yugi nodded, then clutched at his head in sudden pain from a shockingly overpowering input from the dragons. It overwhelmed him, blinding him with agony. _What - is - happening -? _he managed to grate out against the triple mental wave of suffering.

_Calm down! We must calm down or we will kill him!_ Critias mind-shouted. Then, the pain tearing at Yugi's skull lessened. _I can at least calm myself and serve as a mental barrier against the other two until they rein in their emotions. As to what is happening, the Lord of Blackness and Chaos is attacking our forces. Each of us felt it, as our vassals came under assault._

_Hurry! _Yugi shouted. _We have to get there and help!_

_Almost there,_ Critias told him. _And, there it is, below us!_

Yugi looked under the dragon's wing and almost wished he hadn't. The field below, that had once been the organized camp for the three Kindly Lords' forces, was a seething, chaotic mass of Dragons clashing against Drakors, Warriors vying against Knaves, and the weirdly flickering movement of Shadows fighting Shades. It took only that single glance for Yugi to tell that the Chaos Dragon had descended upon the Lords' forces with a very effective sneak attack. The number of forms that remained utterly still upon the ground, both dragon and man-shaped, for the Shadows dissipated immediately upon defeat, distressed him greatly.

_What can we do?_

_We are the True Lords. Do not doubt our power, Hero._

Timaeus and Hermos landed and opted to return to their human forms. Timaeus drew his blade, but remained near, indicating with a gesture of his left hand and a nod that he would guard the Hero. Hermos, with a great rallying cry, charged off into the thick of battle. Despite the frenzied skirmishes between them, Yugi's eyes were drawn to a familiar figure several yards away as Critias landed and allowed him to descend to the ground, before the dragon sprang into the air again.

Vialla knelt on the ground, cradling a still form across her lap. "Look, brother, look!" Tears streamed down the elf's beautiful face as she smoothed blood-soaked hair gently from her brother's death-closed eyes. "If only you could see! The Legendary Dragons, the True Lords of the Legends are returned! The Hero has found them and brought them to us! They will have the might to defeat the Chaos Dragon and bring back the time of wonders. Oh, look, Celador! Open your eyes, brother, so you can see!"

Yugi could only watch in horror, unable to do anything, as a figure rose up behind the grieving elf-maid. The blade was short, befitting the stealthy manner of its use, and its stroke cowardly, befitting the Knave who used it. Vialla slumped over her brother, instantly slain by the sneak attack.

It was as if the tide of battle slowed to a crawl and the clash of weapon against weapon, and the cries of agony and battle receded to a far distance. "She was an innocent!" Yugi bellowed. "She wasn't a warrior, she was a healer!"

The Knave grinned impudently at the outraged Hero's cry and shouted a reply. "I'm sure she's happier to be with her brother again in death's cold grasp, anyway, Hero. The Lord Dragon will reward me handsomely if I can bring him news of your death as well!"

Yugi, incensed beyond endurance, snatched the Gloomblade from Timaeus' grasp, leaned into the augmented battle skills Joey, the Lord of Warriors, had evoked within him seemingly so long ago, and charged at the Knave. "Your span is at its end," he promised.

Timaeus summoned the Shadows of his command to clear a safe path between Yugi and his target, while two Warriors, sword drawn, races alongside and protected his flank. The skirmish was brief, but fierce. Yugi felt a brutal satisfaction when his borrowed blade found its mark. "Go into death before your lord to warn hell that he will be arriving shortly." Yugi told the wide-eyed Knave. A moment later Yugi lifted eyes that glittered with a hard, cold gleam to meet Timaeus' gaze as the True Lord approached. Yugi wiped the gore from the edge of the Gloomblade on the Knave's cloak, and returned it to Timaeus. "Let's end this, so no more innocent people must die."

The very presence of the Legends among them heartened, and even healed the Warriors, Dragons, and Shadows. The tide of battle turned as Timaeus and Hermos organized their forces into protective units to battle against the berserk attacks that had taken them unaware in the first place.

The sky darkened with the clouds that always seemed to accompany the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, and the enormous dragon himself descended from the sky. "Oh? So you've revived the Legends. How quaint! Hero, it will take more than these relics to triumph over me."

_These 'relics' have something to say to that, _Critias said as he stooped down onto the back of the Chaos Dragon from above in a devastating dive attack. _Now!_

The madly gibbering faces in the clouds were not able to do anything to help their lord break free of the assault. Warriors, Drakes, Dragons and Shadows coordinated their efforts as never before, preventing any of Chaos' forces from coming to their lord's aid. Hermos let loose a great war cry, transformed into his dragon form, and soared up to help Critias fight the Chaos Dragon directly. Timaeus waited on the ground, sweeping his one-eyed gaze across the field again and again looking for any weaknesses in their forces that might need reinforcement, taking care to never be more than a step or two away from Yugi's side.

"Go," Yugi suggested softly. "I have never seen such unity among the forces of the three Kindly Lords before in all our battles. Your presence has rallied them. Help Critias and Hermos bring down the Chaos Dragon, and we can put an end to this."

Timaeus turned and assessed Yugi with his good eye. A moment later, he too assumed his dragon shape and winged up into the critical battle taking place across the sky. The three True Lords, working together with an accord the Kindly Lords had never achieved, brought the mighty Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos crashing to the ground. Yugi walked over to where the three Legendary Dragons kept Chaos' struggles from freeing him.

"You think you've won, Hero, do you?" The Chaos Dragon managed to free his head enough to turn and pin Yugi with a baleful eye.

Yugi didn't say anything, he just stared.

"It is not over, yet. The prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. There are two lines left and until you complete them, I cannot be conquered."

_You look pretty conquered to me,_ Hermos mind-spoke.

"Appearances are always deceiving." Chaos shuddered, from the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail, an action that somehow threw all three of the Legendary Dragons restraining him off. He drifted upward, and hovered above the battlefield. "I cannot be defeated until the Hero finishes every last line of the prophecy."

"WHY?" Yugi shouted.

"Why what?" The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos seemed confused by Yugi's question.

"Why did I have to lose so much - all my friends - to gain the Legends, only to lose to you again?"

"Aw, is your resolve to fight against me finally weakening, Hero? Might you be finally seeing the truth of the matter?" The Chaos Dragon contrived to sit back on his tail in the air and seemed to cup his chin with a front paw. "How does it feel, Yugi, to know that the three 'Kindly', pardon moi, 'cowardly' lords, whom you had formed bonds of comradeship and friendship with were nothing more than elaborate ruses - puppet souls designed to protect the True Lords from my wrath? You've been duped, Hero. Join me, and perhaps you need not die for the affront of attacking me. You were - misguided."

"Don't listen to him, Yugi!" Hermos said.

Yugi looked at the True Lords, and, despite their dragon forms, recognized the tension around their eyes. It hurt, like a knife stab through the heart, that they thought he'd put any faith in the words of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. Joey, Seto, and Yami wouldn't have doubted him. Then again, these True Lords didn't know him as well as the Kindly Lords did. Not yet.

"I'm not misguided about what you do to innocent people," Yugi shouted up at the dragon. He pointed. "Look at my friends, there." His finger shook at he centered it on Vialla and Celador. "They were killed in your name, to further your cause. People go mad when you simply fly over their homes. People go missing whenever your forces are near. I might not know everything that's going on, but I'm not misguided. Your own actions betray you!"

The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos smiled down at him. "Can't fault me for trying. It'd be far easier if you'd just given up. Very good, Hero. Your resolve, despite your misgivings, is firm. It will make it much more satisfying when I defeat you, along with your pathetic True Lords, once and for all." The dragon sighed theatrically. "But, that destined confrontation must wait until you've solved every last line of the prophecy. I can give you the second to last one, Hero. 'Claim their might' There. I will send you no more dream hints. I cannot give you the last line - you must find it for yourself. It is only within the heart of the hero that the last line, and the power to defeat me, dwells."

Timaeus, Hermos, and Critias leaped at the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos from three different directions at the same time, evidently communicating with each other in such a way that even Yugi hadn't been aware of it.

"Tsk, tsk!" The Chaos Dragon bounded above their attack, and waved a single talon tauntingly at them as the three crashed together in the air under him. "Haven't you been listening? Nothing you three do can end this conflict or bring me down - it is only the Hero who can defeat me!" He turned his head and surveyed the vast battlefield. "For now, Hero, I go. Attend to me, my minions!" He beat his wings fiercely, driving the three dragons beneath him into the ground while the tortured faces of the chaos clouds laughed at them. He inscribed a lazy circle in the air, creating a magic funnel that lifted only Drakors, Knaves, and Shades up into the sky to become part of the forming Chaos Storm. A moment later, the storm dissipated.

"Good riddance," Hermos said, clutching at his head against the sudden shock of being forced to resume his human shape upon his crash landing.

* * *

Timaeus approached where Hermos and Critias were marshaling their commanders to bring order once more to their gathered forces, set watches, and designate areas for tents where the wounded could be tended. They also decided to restore the full camp for the night as it was late afternoon. One of the sad but necessary duties was the gathering of those felled in battle into one place. Yugi grieved as he knelt next to Vialla and Celador who were not far away from the tragically growing area set aside for the gathering of the dead.

"I have walked the outer edges of the battlefield, and sent as many as I can on my own into the Realm of Darkness. I need your help with the rest," Timaeus told them.

"It serves to increase your forces," Hermos countered.

"Eventually, yes. But, would you risk leaving those who fell fighting in your name open to becoming Shades of the Dread Lord? It would be far better to send them into the Realm of Darkness, even if it helps me in the end, would it not?"

Critias nodded. "Hermos, even now there are people growing up and taking up arms to become Warriors for you, and eggs are hatching and dragonettes are maturing to become new forces for me. I would much rather those forces of mine who fell in honorable combat become part of Timaeus' forces, than to damn them to an eternity of useless wandering and suffering here - or subjugation to the one who they died fighting against in the first place."

Yugi, unwittingly overhearing the growing argument, planted himself before the lords. "Explain."

"There is a Realm of Darkness adjacent to our land, and that of the Realm of Shadows. We learned, years ago, that those of our forces who are killed in battle against the Lord of Chaos are apt to not rest peacefully. I recognized many of the Shades we battled today as the twisted versions of Warriors or Dragons who were on our side in the past. One of our abilities is the power to send those defeated in battle through the Shadow Realm into the Realm of Darkness," Timaeus explained.

"But - why?" Yugi asked.

"The Realm of Darkness isn't evil. It's dark and peaceful. It gives the souls of those defeated in battle time and quiet to come to terms with what happened to them."

"It is one way Timaeus increases the forces fighting for him - the Realm of Darkness converts the fallen into Shadows. My Warriors, or Critias' Dragons become _his_ Shadows!"

"It is not for that reason that I do this - I've explained it before!" Timaeus flared at Hermos.

"Not all the fallen become Shadows," Critias pointed out. "Most of them move on, or dissipate, or whatever is the final fate of a being's soul."

"Enough of them switch sides," Hermos argued.

"Did you never wonder why I always sent Shadows of monsters and dragons against you in the past?" Timaeus demanded. He turned toward Critias. "Or how you always faced Shadows of monsters and men?"

Critias nodded. "So we never had to fight against any who used to be our vassals," he realized. "Is that good strategy, preventing wavering allegiances from disrupting a battle - or compassion, not making anyone fight against those they used to side with?"

Timaeus shot a twisted grin, that reminded Yugi achingly of one of Yami's expressions, at his fellow lords. "Both. It would not do to have one or more of my forces change sides during a skirmish, and the Shadows are my subjects, even as Warriors and Dragons are yours. I would not give a command that would make any of them unhappy without a damn good reason."

"What happens if you leave the fallen here? Well, not just leave them, but bury them?" Yugi looked across the field of those fallen in battle, dismay stabbing him anew at how many there were.

"For whatever reason, perhaps something to do with a power of the Lord of Blackness and Chaos, many of the fallen would become restless spirits haunting this place, but most of them, in the next day or so, would rise and become Shades to join his army," Timaeus told him.

Celador, as a Shade, turning his blade against one of Hermos' Warriors who he had trained with? Vialla, the gentle healer, rising from a natural shadow on the ground to knife the back of a Warrior or Drake with a sneak attack - slaying another in the cowardly way she herself was slain? Yugi shook his head against his own dark imaginings. "We can't let that happen! Wouldn't it be better for those who fell fighting against the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos to return, even if it is as one of Yami's - er, Timaeus' Shadows to fight for our side? Isn't that a fate you would choose for yourself?" Yugi turned and looked up into Lord Hermos' face.

To his surprise, the lord couldn't keep his gaze. "Yeah, maybe. Don't look at me like that, Hero. We'll send th' fallen to the Realm of Darkness."

Yugi watched as the three lords walked away from each other until each lord served as one point of a great triangle inscribed around the fallen. Each concentrated and began to glow with a gray sort of energy. The rest of the army - Warriors, Dragons, Drakes, and Shadows formed a giant circle surrounding the lords and watched with silent reverence. After several minutes, the energy sprang from one lord to the next, visibly outlining the triangle they created. A field effect shimmered between them, softening the bodies they surrounded with the gray energy until the fallen disappeared entirely.

The amassed fighting forces of the True Lords sent up a great keening cry of loss to the heavens before breaking apart to finish setting up the camp. The three True Lords returned to where Yugi stood and stared at the now-empty place where the fallen had been gathered.

"I think - they would rather this be their fate, if they should fall in battle against the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos," Yugi noted softly as he watched the subdued warriors return to their tasks. A few passing knights heard his comment and nodded, before bowing respectfully to the lords.

"It is one of our horrors, my lords, to think we might die in battle only to return as an evil Shade trying to kill those we used to fight with," one of the knights said. "Promise me..." The knight's eyes widened and he fell silent. The other knights hurried away, to lose themselves among the rest of those restoring the camp.

"You fear to ask us something?" Critias realized.

The knight nodded. "You are the True Lords of Legend - tales of your might and power have been handed down for ages. For me to dare to address you directly is an affront that - that the stories tell us is punishable by death," the knight told him. "Forgive me this offense, my lords! If I must die for it, place me in the front ranks so that I die in combat!"

"What horrible tales have been told about us?" Timaeus wondered.

"Tell us!" Hermos demanded.

The knight, imposing as he was, quailed into silence. Yugi latched onto the man's arm. "They are the True Lords, it's true, but I'm the Hero, right? Nothing is going to happen to you if you talk to me, right? And the True Lords are supposed to help me, so, even though I don't command them, or anything like that, I'm sure you realize they listen to me, and they wouldn't do anything bad to someone if I asked them, very politely, not to, right?" Yugi babbled to distract the man from his dismay, and turned him slightly away from the astonished True Lords. Yugi got the knight, whose name he learned was Gaia, to tell him everything he knew about the True Lords from the fables as he walked with the knight back to his designated campsite.

"So, it seems as if the legends about you highlight the power you have, but also mention that each of you is, well, uhm, kinda set in your ways, or something like that, and that you are apt to take offense pretty easily. It's one reason Yami, Seto, and J-Joey were known as the 'Kindly Lords' because they were a lot nicer than you are supposed to be." Yugi told the three lords a short while later. "I hope you don't mind, but I told Gaia that those parts of the stories weren't true, that you were just very, very concerned about the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, and that's why you seem so harsh. I, uhm, presumed you didn't want those fighting on your side to fear you - I hope that was okay?" Faced with the blank stares of all three True Lords, Yugi felt disconcerted and he hoped fervently that he hadn't stepped on the toes of the three touchy lords. Timaeus and Critias smiled, and even Hermos' expression lightened.

"No one should fear us - not even you, Yugi," Critias told him.

"Except the Lord of Blackness and Chaos," Hermos added darkly.

"Perhaps we should talk to our vassals ourselves?" Timaeus suggested. "Find out their apprehensions, do what we can to solidify their support for our cause, and alleviate any fears they might hold in regards to us. What did the knight Gaia want from us, Yugi? Were you able to find out?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes. He wanted to ask you to promise that if he ever did fall in battle, you would send him to the Realm of Darkness. I think all of those fighting on our side would like that promise. They are terrified that they might instead become Shades fighting for the Chaos Lord."

Each of the True Lords nodded. Yugi watched, as a short while later, Hermos, Critias, and Timaeus addressed the army directly, dispelling many of the dark myths surrounding the True Lords. They gave their promise to all of their forces that they would not be abandoned to the fate of becoming either a wandering spirit, haunting the land where they died, or a Shade in the army of Chaos. Afterward, Hermos and Timaeus wandered among their Warriors and Shadows, offering direct reassurance, while Critias, once again in dragon form, addressed all of his Dragons and Drakes for the same purpose.

"How long does it take for a fallen spirit to return as a Shadow, if they are going to?" Yugi asked Timaeus a few hours later as the sun set and the camp settled down for the night.

"It takes many years, sometimes decades," Timaeus replied.

"That long?" Yugi asked in surprise. "But, you said the dead would become Shades in only a day if you didn't send them to the Realm of Darkness?"

"The Lord of Chaos somehow forces released spirits to become Shades. Even if I could, I would never force someone fallen to become a Shadow and return to battle - it should be by choice. If their spirits are content with moving on, I would not do anything to stop them. Have you noticed how all the Shades seem to be the same? They don't seem to have as much personality as the Shadows do. I think it is because the Lord of Blackness and Chaos forces beings into becoming Shades. I think it loses the true essence of the person to do that - at least, I hope that's what happens. If so, perhaps the actual soul of the person so forced is truly released and beyond the grasp of Chaos." Timaeus looked very serious.

"I see." Yugi was also very serious. "Can you tell if someone is going to move on, or return? Become a Shadow that is?"

"I have no way of telling who will return as a Shadow and who moves on. Oh, you are wondering if you will see your elven friends again? Forgive me that I didn't realize their deaths were another sorrow you have to deal with." Timaeus shook his head. "They will not return during this conflict, if they return at all. Many of the fallen sent to the Realm of Darkness do not become Shadows, and some that do return do not recall the specifics of their previous lives."

"So, when you told Critias and Hermos you don't send Shadows that might have once been their warriors against them because the Shadows would be conflicted and might switch sides...?"

Timaeus smiled that lopsided 'Yami' grin at him. "I suppose that is part of it, but it's mainly the other reason."

"The 'compassion' one? Why can't you say it?"

"I'm a warlord, Yugi. 'Compassion' has no place in a warlord."

"Really? So, reassuring your army that they won't become the enemy's forces was -?"

Timaeus' eyes suddenly glowed red, he growled, darted forward, and snagged Yugi playfully in his arms in a hauntingly familiar way. Both stilled. "Forgive me. I don't know what came over me." Timaeus moved as if to pull away.

"I do," Yugi said softly, grasping Timaeus' arms so he couldn't let go. "Is it so bad if 'Yami' is perhaps more evident within you than you want to admit?"

"Yes!" Timaeus pushed Yugi away forcefully enough to break Yugi's grip. "And he isn't. I am Timaeus; Yami was merely the vessel-soul that served as the key to return my soul with my full power back into the world. We mustn't allow ourselves to be distracted from defeating the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. Not for any reason. Forgive me, Hero. My lapse in focus will not happen again." Timaeus turned as if to walk away.

"Wait!" Yugi called out.

"What do you need, Hero?" Timaeus demanded coldly, while half-turning toward him.

_I need Yami back, along with all of my friends, and Chaos defeated never to rise again, and... _Yugi thought. Aloud he said, "I know what happens to Warriors, Dragons, and Drakes that are defeated in battle, but what happens to your Shadows?"

Timaeus turned and faced him fully at that. "Shadows that are utterly defeated dissipate, never to be seen again."

Yugi's eyes widened. Somehow, the idea that Vialla and Celador might return some day as Shadows made their deaths seem less final and less of a cause for sadness, almost as if it were something of an inconvenience, but not an ending. That the Shadows were gone, for good, brought the finality of death back to the conflict with stunning force.

"You see why I cannot relax and behave as if each defeated vassal isn't a dreadful loss," Timaeus said softly. "My fellow lords might be reassured that death isn't necessarily an ending for their vassals, but mine do not have that comfort - and they know it."

"So, while Hermos and Critias were reassuring their forces that they would not become Shades upon defeat, what were you doing?" Yugi asked softly.

"I was reassuring my forces, as best I could, that I wouldn't throw their lives away uselessly. That if they followed me, we would help the Hero to the extent of our power and strength to defeat the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. That I would fight alongside them until the end, if needed, so that they wouldn't go into the final darkness alone." Timaeus stared at Yugi for a long moment. "Do we understand each other, Hero? There is nothing light and frivolous in the task before you."

Yugi nodded. After a moment, Lord Timaeus bowed his head acknowledging Yugi's unspoken commitment, and left.

* * *

Author's note

My, things have taken a rather darkened turn, haven't they? Yugi has allies, strong ones, but it seems as if he is continuing to lose his friends.

Next chapter teaser – Legendary Chaos  
(uh-oh!)


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two - Legendary Chaos**

Critias struggled mightily to free himself. He thrashed his tail like a whip against the side of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos and beat his wings, not to fly, but to buffet and try to escape. Chaos, for his part, had his jaws clamped around Critias' neck. His wings beat too, to keep the prey he had in his clutches off the ground. Even as Hermos and Timaeus transformed into their dragon shapes to go to the aid of their fellow lord, Chaos opened his maw and released Critias.

Critias plummeted as a dead weight from the sky, crashed into the ground heavily, and remained ominously still. Yugi started to run toward the stricken dragon, hoping it was just a ruse to get the Dread Lord to let him go, hoping he wasn't dead, somehow knowing, before he got there, that his hopes were in vain.

"CRITIAS!"

Light stabbed his eyes. Did the True Lords simply disappear into the Realm of Darkness with a flash when they died? He threw an arm up across his face to protect his vision from the sudden light. Someone grabbed his shoulder and hauled him to his feet. Wait. When did he...?

"I'm right here, you can stop shouting," Critias told him.

"A dream?" Yugi muttered.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this one." Critias let him go. "It's before dawn, Hero. Even I don't rise this early. Hermos and Timaeus haven't even stirred." Critias smirked, then looked closely at Yugi. "I can see you aren't going back to sleep. Must have been a bad one."

Yugi nodded. "It seemed so real..."

"Nightmares usually do." Still looking at Yugi's face, he sighed. "And, you want to talk about it. Sometimes a nightmare is just a nightmare, Yugi. The Dread Lord said he would give you no more dreams."

Yugi shook his head. "No, he said he couldn't give the last line with a dream-sending. I think he's still tormenting me with dreams, trying to weaken my resolve."

By the time dawn started to creep across the sky, Yugi was in better spirits. Critias hadn't laughed at Yugi's terror, and hadn't acted as if Yugi were foolish to be concerned. He admitted that he would be severely outclassed by the Chaos Dragon if it came to a one-on-one fight - that's why he didn't put himself in situations where it was likely to happen - none of the True Lords did. They had learned their lesson long ago that they, individually, did not have enough power to defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. None of them would try to confront Chaos directly - it was suicide.

"Hey, I've struck a deal with Timaeus here," Hermos said as the other True Lords approached. "In payment for the Warriors who are likely to rise as Shadows, he's agreed to lend me the aid of some of his Shadows to restore my lands once the Dread Lord is defeated."

"That's not what..." Timaeus protested. "I'd offer to help anyway. I merely propose that we don't dissolve our detente until not only is the Lord of Blackness and Chaos defeated, but each of us restored, as closely as possible, to the state we were in before he appeared."

"You two are discussing that now? Isn't that premature?" Critias retorted.

"Th' Hero's here, we're back - it's only a matter of time. We beat him off last time, right?" Hermos replied.

Yugi shook his head. "No, he left on his own. We didn't beat him." Still, it seemed as if the end were in sight. Yugi could go home and be among family and friends, again. Maybe the loss of the friends he made on this adventure wouldn't hurt so much if he were palling around with Tristan again, but he knew that he had changed during the adventure. Those things that used to be fun before would seem very childish. Challenges from before his adventure would be laughable easy to him now.

Critias might not have perished facing the Dread Lord as in Yugi's dream, but he had reason to wonder if it were not in an obscure way prophetic. Critias was edgy the entire day, more short-tempered and sharp of tongue than Yugi had ever seen him. Toward dusk, when Critias' attitude had soured so much that he was snapping at Yugi as much as at his fellow lords, a shout went up from one of the sentry positions. Yugi's heart thudded in his chest as he ran, trailing the longer-legged True Lords, toward the commotion. It was not an enemy attack as he had feared. Rather, it wasn't their _camp_ that was under attack.

A half-grown, and half-dead, dragon had limped toward their forces from the edge of the forest - that was why the sentries had sent up an alarm. Yugi almost couldn't bear to look at the shredded remnants of bone and flesh that had once been the dragon's wings. All three of the True Lords shifted to their dragon shapes to hold a draconic conversation with the youngling. Yugi wished that Vialla had not perished - not only because she had been a friend, but also because her healing abilities would have eased the dragonette's suffering. Once in a while the weak utterances that Yugi couldn't understand rose up in a keen of agony. When that happened, Critias would lean down and stroke his head alongside the younger dragon's head, cheek to cheek, in an oddly familiar gesture. It wasn't until the fourth time that Yugi realized the motion reminded him of how cats who are friendly to one another greet and communicate with each other.

The young dragon's strength gave out, and he slumped over onto his side. Critias seemed to take up the conversation now, and though Yugi didn't understand dragon-speech at all, something in the rise and fall of the tone conveyed the meaning perfectly. That Critias was proud of the young dragon, exceedingly proud, in his bravery in escaping, and flying as long as he could, then walking and limping along the ground, to bring the warning to them. That he, Critias, would take up the burden now, the young one had borne enough. That the young one was to close his eyes, and rest a while, without fear, for he had done his duty well, and he would be well-rewarded for it. That the young one was not to worry, he would surely fly again. Yugi looked at the ruined wings at that, and knew there was no way they could ever be whole again. That was when he realized the young dragon was dying, and Critias was doing all he could to ease that passing.

He wanted to turn away. He wanted to run from the pain and sorrow of it all. He wanted to shut out the sounds around him, but most of all, he wanted to shut out the sounds of his own heart, keening in its own voiceless way at one with the sorrow flowing all around them.

He stepped forward instead. One step, but it made the second one easier, then the third. Before he knew it, he was next to the stricken dragon, dwarfed completely by the three True Lord dragons, and his mouth was opening.

"I don't know if you understand human speech," he began.

_All dragons do. Go ahead, Hero_, Timaeus told him.

Yugi slipped the cord of the Hero's Heartstone over his head, cupped the purple gem in his hand, and reached toward the dying dragon. "This magic stone has given me comfort and eased my fears since my adventure began. I am sure it will do the same for you," he said, as he placed it against the breastbone protecting the dragon's heart.

To Yugi it seemed as if the dragon, at the touch of the Hero's Heartstone, turned into light. A great bugling cry of joy rang through not only his ears, but his entire being. The dragon, no longer dying, but no longer alive, at least not in any form that Yugi recognized, lifted pinions crafted of light, winged upward and disappeared into a sudden radiance in the night sky.

"Did I just - kill him?!" Yugi asked, horror lacing his tones. He looked at the stone still nestled in the palm of his hand and abruptly remembered the warning the Water Sage had given him so long ago, that if he were not the true hero, the Sage's Stone, as it had been known before, would kill him. Yugi realized that since he had claimed it, no other mortal had touched the stone. He had not realized his action would kill the dragon!

"No," Critias abruptly resumed his human form, and grasped Yugi by the arms. "Charvron was all but dead. No force of healing or magic could have saved him - he knew that - we all did." Hermos and Timaeus also returned to their human shapes.

"What - happened? What did I _do_?!" Yugi realized how close Critias' arm was to the stone in his hand, and started to pull away. "No! I don't want to kill you too!"

Critias lowered his chin and pinned Yugi with a half-hearted, and somehow half-familiar, glare. Of course, Lord Critias reminded Yugi of Seto, the Lord of Ice and Dragons, but this teasing memory seemed even older and deeper than that. Though it was not at all a friendly look, Yugi felt oddly comforted by it. Critias plucked the Hero's Heartstone from his hand. Yugi froze.

Hermos laughed. "He didn't go 'poof'!"

"There is no peril in this artifact. You wished to ease Charvron's passing and the Heartstone obliged," Critias told him.

"What happened to him?" Yugi asked.

A touch of awe sparked in Critias' eyes. "Transcendence. You transcended Charvron to the next plane. It is what all dragons hope for, when death claims them, though none of us has ever seen it before."

"But - what does that mean?"

Critias shrugged. "I don't know, like I said, we've never seen it before. But you heard, no, felt, that joyful shout. You saw how he lifted, whole in form once more, into the sky? Maybe he became a sky dragon, or a dragon of light. He has become something beyond our knowledge. Maybe he watches over dragons from the sky, or maybe he is free to wander to other stars. Transcendence. Whatever he has become, he is free of pain, and he is full of joy. What more do we need to know?"

Yugi nodded, then took a shuddering breath. Critias took the opportunity to place the Hero's Heartstone back where it belonged, draping the cord over Yugi's head, and letting the stone fall to its usual place over Yugi's heart.

"What happened to him? To Charvron?"

"Didn't I just explain...?"

"He means what happened to hurt him so much that he came here in such a wounded state," Hermos interrupted. Yugi nodded at Critias' questioning look.

"Oh, you weren't able to follow the discussion, and none of us echoed it mentally into human language for you," Critias realized. Sorrow, deeper than Yugi had ever seen, flashed across the True Lord's face. "The Aerie has fallen. The dragons are scattered, or dead. They bore many of the people away before the Lord of Blackness and Chaos descended with a horde of his forces, but..." Critias looked up and locked Yugi's eyes with an indescribable expression. "My people have fallen. The Dragonlands are no more."

"What?!"

"Except for the dragons with us here, Charvron told us the rest are dead, dying, wounded, or have gone into deep hiding. The Dread Lord is hunting the dragons." Timaeus' voice was soft. Whatever animosity the True Lords had held toward one another in the past, it was pushed aside now.

The enormity of what Timaeus said was too much. So, scenes like the one he'd just witnessed with Charvron were happening throughout the Dragonlands? Dragons were crying in torment, trying to fly on destroyed wings, limping along on the ground, doing their best to get away from...

"We have to help them!" Yugi cried out.

"It is too late, Hero." Timaeus shook his head. Though his words were implacable, his tone was understanding. "The attack was too sudden, and too overwhelming. Charvron told us the dragons split into two groups; the stronger ones fought against the forces of Chaos knowing the odds were against them to buy time for the weaker ones to help as many humans get away to safety as they could."

Critias shook his head, and assayed a fierce smile. "Lord Seto would be pleased that his plans were followed so obediently."

"You aren't?!"

Critias started at Yugi's vehement tone. "I didn't say that! Of course I am pleased - not that the dragons are all but destroyed, but that they fulfilled their duty so well. In my day, the order was the same; the strong hold off the invaders as long as possible, while the less strong help the weakest ones to safety. Lord Seto was not that different from me in that regard."

"What do we do now?"

* * *

No one had an answer. It wasn't until much later, when he was on the verge of sleep, that a truly horrific idea occurred to Yugi. He remember the True Lords summoning the Realm of Darkness to send the fallen to a different place. While this afterlife plane didn't seem like much of a reward to Yugi, some of the fallen would possibly rise again in the material world as Shadows, but most seemed to pass on, from what the Lords had said, it was better than the dreaded alternative - to be forced to rise again as one of Chaos' Shades, to fight against one's own previous comrades, or, remain on the field of death as a haunt.

Yugi's action was unconscious and instinctive. He reached up and grasped the Hero's Heartstone. His need for comfort was so great that he whispered aloud.

"Please, whatever power you might have, don't let that be the fate of the noble dragons - to become Shades or Drakors of Chaos' army! They would hate that more than anything! If I could, I'd transcend them all, but, I doubt that's possible. If there is any way to protect them instead, or send them to the Realm of Darkness... Maybe I should find the True Lords and see if we are in time, if we go there now, so they can summon it like they did before, but, the Lord Dragon of Chaos is surely watching, that would be walking right into our own deaths, oh, I don't know what to do, what the right action is..."

The stone pulsed with warmth under his hand. As always, the warmth comforted him, somehow soothing his worry. He drifted into sleep, and had a ghost of a dream drift across his mind.

He watched as Charvron flew toward the Dragonlands. The details were fuzzy, for which Yugi was grateful, but whenever Charvron flew over a suspiciously dragon-shaped mound, a ghostly dragon lifted from it to follow him. The shining dragon was careful in his flight, making certain that every area of the Dragonlands received his attention. Before long, the sky was filled with a ghostly parade of dragon spirits, all following the shining one in the lead. Once Charvron had overflown the entire land, and gathered all the spirits of the fallen, he flew straight up, leading them all away. Yugi wondered what Chaos would think when no new Shades or Drakors joined his army overnight.

Comforted by the dream, hoping it was a vision of reality and not wishful thinking, Yugi settled into a deeper sleep. Unfortunately, the nightmare of what happened to the Dragonlands continued, and deepened.

* * *

Yugi pushed his hair back from his eyes and assessed their situation. Things had gone from bad to dreadfully worse in the past few days. The Dragonlands had a plan in place if ever they were overrun, but the fire-locked Warrior Lands and the mountainous Shadowlands hadn't. Of the Dragons and Drakes who had been in Lord Seto's, then True Lord Critias' army, there were none left. They had been sent on missions to help evacuate the human populations from the the Land of Warriors and Shadowlands. The True Lords themselves would serve as the flying forces if they were attacked from the air now.

Likewise, most of the Warriors and Shadows had been detailed to guarding and guerrilla duties respectively. The Warriors would guard the refugees on their way to safety, and the Shadows would sneak attack any of Lord Chaos' forces they found to keep the Army of Blackness from interfering. It made good tactical sense, but, as Yugi looked around the severely depleted forces of their army, he couldn't stop a shiver of apprehension from traveling along his spine.

"Don't worry. We are striking camp now." Lord Hermos clapped him on his shoulder with enough force to rattle Yugi's teeth. "We've been in this situation before. We'll go to ground in the forests, and travel quick and light, until we devise our attack plan."

"Attack?" Yugi blinked up at the lord.

"We've been backed into a corner. There's only so long our scattered forces can keep protecting the innocent people from the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. If we don't figure out a way to take this battle to him, instead of reacting to what he's doing, we will lose."

"It seems..." Yugi looked at the massive field that only a few days before had been filled with Drakes, Dragons, Warriors, and Shadows and now had no Dragons or Drakes scouting from the air, only a handful of Warriors and one or two Shadows flickering about helping to strike the now-abandoned tents. "It seems as if we've already lost."

"Appearances can be deceiving. This conflict will not be resolved army against army - it never could be. It will come down to face to face. All the massive battles were merely preliminary moves in the war," Timaeus said as he too approached.

"'Face to face'?" Yugi repeated as he paled. "Whose face - exactly?" He recalled every instance he'd been 'face to face' with the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos from the very first time he'd met his fated enemy and thought to offer sanctuary under a bush from the very Chaos Storm the Chaos Lord created. Each encounter had been even more unsettling than the last, and the knowledge that the Lord of Chaos could send dreams and nightmares, with hints of things to come, dismayed Yugi more than he wanted to admit. That his own mind wasn't private...

"Don't be alarmed. The final conflict will have the Dread Lord, certainly, and you," Critias smiled gravely down at Yugi's worried face. "But us as well. No matter what, our role is to support the Hero. You are he."

Yugi nodded slowly. His hand crept up to catch the Hero's Heartstone for comfort.

* * *

"So, Hero, we meet again!" Yugi tried to blink sleep from his eyes and awareness into his mind, but only swirling black met his gaze. "No wretched dead knight to chase me away this time - even the Lord of Shadows is no more!"

Yugi's eyes cleared then. The blackness was creeping up along his body, and a face leered at him from within that writhing mass. His legs had already gone shockingly cold, then numb, and he could no longer feel them. The blackness flowed slowly toward his head. He tried to cry out but a tentacle of pure black wrapped around his mouth.

"None of that now. Wouldn't want any of your wretched 'True Lords' to interrupt before I've taken full possession and hidden within you, now would we? Be a good loser, Hero, and hold still. Once I've taken over, I'll lead the True Lords to their 'true' death, and my Lord Chaos will triumph once and for all!"

_No!_

_Ah, strong enough to protest still? Good. I like it when my prey squirms and fights. It makes the battle more interesting, and the victory more sweet._

_You're that shade, from before!_

_You recognize me? I'm flattered. You could have saved yourself so much grief if I'd only been able to do this when we met in the woods. That dead knight perceived me too quickly before._

_You - can't - do - this! _The cold and numbing effect had flowed all the way up to the bottom of Yugi's ribcage, and his hands and arms had gone numb.

_I _am_ doing it._ The cold seeping up his chest paused. _Head, or heart? Which is the seat of the true you? You will lose this battle, I will become you, the perfect double agent to end this silly conflict, when my cold overtakes your seat of individuality. You'd have a moment or two more if it were your head, but I suspect, Hero, you truly reside within your heart. Too bad, I rather wanted to torment you a bit longer. Ah well, no point in delaying... What?!_

"Kwee-Eee!"

Yugi was propelled off his bed, and mostly out of the grasping attack of the shade. His rescuer coalesced out of the darkness into the familiar form of Shelleene. The kuriboh alternately batted at the shade-stuff still clinging to Yugi's feet and floated up into his face to encourage him to back away from the grasping shade. Yugi needed no convincing.

"Yugi!" Timaeus' voice bellowed outside his tent a moment before the True Lord, with sword drawn, swept into the tent. "I sense a shade!"

"You wretched blood-shadow! I'll get even for this!" The shade shrieked, then flickered out a moment before Timaeus' sword sliced through the space it had been in.

Yugi couldn't stifle a sob. His sudden peril, and equally sudden rescue, dropping him from the depths of sleep into the greater depths of terror rattled him to his core. He reached for the comfort of the fluffy-seeming kuriboh who accepted his hold and patted his head with her paws. Timaeus knelt and placed his hand on Yugi's back, offering his mute support and comfort. He waved the two other lords away when they peered in, alerted by the voices.

"Why is she so solid? And warm? She never was before," Yugi asked, forgetting that it was Timaeus and not Yami, Lord of Shadows, who was with him. An answer came anyway.

"Shadows, and shades for that matter, are solid at will, if that will is strong enough. I suspect she is warm because she wants to be warm to comfort you."

"Comfort..." An image flashed across Yugi's mind. It was of Yami's face, backed by the whirling shadow portal of the Point right before his expression washed blank and he walked through. A tiny smile had crossed his face in that moment when he met Yugi's eyes that last time.

"You, that is, Yami, did this right before..." Yugi looked up into Timaeus' face. Yami's crooked smiled flashed across it.

The True Lord nodded. "The Kindly one did leave a gift right before he entered that portal and embraced his destiny. He invested your blood-guardian with enough power to manifest if you were ever threatened."

"So, she will disappear again."

"Not so. I have reclaimed Yami's soul as part of my own, and inherited all his powers. I am the True Lord Timaeus, who among other things is the Lord of Blood and Shadows again. I was the first such lord, after all. Yami merely held the power for me until the time of the Hero."

"I - miss him," Yugi admitted, deepening his hold on Kuriboh. "And the Purple Knight."

"They are gone." Timaeus' eyes were flat and cold. Yugi shivered at his daunting expression. A smile, so like Yami's warmed across his face. "But, Shelleene, your blood-guardian, is still here. Yami and the Purple Knight, who you cared so much about, are gone, but Shelleene can remain." He placed his hand on the little shadow monster's head. "There. She is invested with some of my power. She can remain by your side openly, instead of hiding within your shadow."

"Timaeus! Thank you!" Yugi smiled up at the True Lord. "You are - different, but there is..."

Timaeus abruptly stood, turned his back, and shook out the folds in his cloak. "Don't misunderstand, Hero. Your blood-guardian serves as a means to keep you safe from attacks like the one you just suffered. We can't afford to lose you until we defeat the Lord of Blackness and Chaos." He left.

Yugi stared after him for a long moment. The dismissive attitude was somehow familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why. "Yeah, but she could have done that from within my shadow as before, you big phony. You gave her power to stay if she wants just so I could have," He snuggled his face into the warm side of the little monster in his arms. "this."

"Kwee," Shelleene agreed sleepily.

* * *

The place that was not a place opened in the lacuna of realities again. A purple light floated patiently, waiting for something to happen. It took energy to open this space and while he had power, he did not have so much that he could leave this place open indefinitely.

He hadn't thought to need to do this. He had thought the path was obvious, and the roles clear. A separation had been necessary, but he hadn't seen any reason to be concerned - until now. The script had been open, after all. There was no way to know in advance every perambulation and motivation of all the players, as many of them were acting under their own slightly constrained, but still mostly free, wills. It had seemed best to craft it so that everyone could function under the same freedom.

But, one of them seemed to have slipped the constraints entirely, and was acting so completely on his own that the entire endeavor seemed to be in jeopardy. This would all be for naught if the lessons weren't learned. Worse, it could damage the very bonds and confidences it had been designed to strengthen. If the other one had succeeded with his latest ploy, the adventure would be over and have inflicted pain and loss to no purpose on one who might not be able to bear it.

The purple light wondered if his opposite number, even though he was the opposing side, had forgotten that there really were no sides at all between them. That, for them, there was no win or lose, unless the young ones lost. And he wondered further how well he really knew this one who he had trusted with far more than the critical outcome of this adventure.

_How well does one really know one's self, after all? Especially me, when there are so many facets to consider. Chaos, if you don't answer my call, I will have no choice but to regard you - as an enemy._

* * *

Yugi dragged himself awake and groaned. He was tired. He was tired of the constant need to mollify the True Lords now that his prophetic dreams had stopped. Even though he suspected the portents and omens had been sent by the Dread Lord of Chaos, and that thought frightened him to the core of his being, he wished he still dreamed them. At least he could say something to quell the growing insistence of the True Lords that as the Hero he had to do something. At least he would have some idea what he was to do next. Each True Lord bore intermittent flashes of the personality of the prior Kindly Lord within, but their focus was painfully tight on defeating the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. Whereas Yami, Seto, and Joey had regarded him as a friend, Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, though they accorded him the title of 'Hero', seemed to view him merely as a means for toppling the Dread Lord. Their impatience with him was growing hour by hour. He hoped to find coffee and breakfast before encountering any of them. His hope was dashed when he left his tent in the temporary camp they had set up the night before and one of them verbally pounced on him.

"Well?"

Yugi stared dully at the set planes and curves of Lord Timaeus' face. Gone was the flash of understanding that only two days before impelled the True Lord to grant Shelleene the power to manifest from Yugi's shadow at the blood-guardian's will. "I didn't have any dreams that might..." He petered off as Timaeus turned on his heel and stalked away.

"Do you think I don't want to dream?" Yugi shouted at the dismissive back.

Timaeus turned and regarded him coldly. "You ran away from your dreams before - another had to dream for you - so yes, I think you are retreating from your destiny. I hope the world doesn't have to suffer for your cowardice."

"I still dream," Yugi growled.

Timaeus' eyes glinted coldly. "You just said..."

"I dream, but they aren't the dreams of before. Those were odd and frightening, but there was always some purpose I could figure out from them. The dreams I have now are all dreams of failure, despair and death - not a single line of the prophecy. No sense of where I should go, or what I should do, or who I have to find. You three are frustrated with _me_? I had to leave home, I've been terrorized by pretty much damn near everyone I've met along the way - including you three when you were the 'Kindly' Lords - and now that you've transformed into these 'True Lords' you are even more arrogant and uncaring than you were before. Power corrupts. If I didn't know that before, I do now, after watching you. The only reason I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do is..."

Critias and Hermos neared, drawn by Yugi's raised voice. "Why?" Timaeus demanded at Yugi's distracted pause.

"You've been in whatever space between time or dimensions or wherever you were for however many years. You left, and left this world behind. This is _my_ world. My family and friends wait back home. Even if I could retreat as you three did, I wouldn't. The people of your domains, Shadows, Dragons, Warriors, and even just normal people like me are threatened by the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. You might be callous and corrupted by your power, but he is even more so - and he's promised to destroy the world. So, don't act as if I'm not trying to do what I'm supposed to. It's been beaten into my head ever since I got pulled into this damned adventure. I'm the _Hero_. I'll see this through the the bitter end and either save my world, or die trying." Yugi glared at each of the three True Lords until one by one they looked away, unable to maintain his gaze. "Get out of my sight. Maybe without you three hounding me, I can figure out what I'm supposed to do."

Hermos lifted an eyebrow at Yugi's command. Timaeus seemed stunned into immobility. Critias' glare morphed into a tight, sardonic smile before he shifted to dragon form, lifted his wings, and took to the sky. Timaeus stared at Yugi a moment longer, then stalked off. Hermos assayed a mocking bow before he too walked away.

Yugi gulped down air and wondered if he'd pushed the True Lords too far. Singly or together, they could slay him without raising a sweat or tapping even one tenth of their power. _But, I'm the Hero. For whatever reason, they need me - it's their stupid prophecy we're trying to figure out, after all._

The prophecy. He hadn't been given any new lines, and he didn't really expect any. Why was that? Oh, yeah, something the Lord Dragon of Chaos said. Something about being invulnerable until Yugi finished the prophecy, but also not giving him the last line.

_Where am I supposed to find it? The Point?_ Weird, but he couldn't seem to recollect much about the Point - how it looked or really, what it was for. It had been important, but there wasn't any writing on it, and he'd solved its puzzle - twice - once to find the Kindly Lords' dragons, and again to release the True Lords.

_It's a place of loss to me._ Yugi realized. He'd lost the three Knights to release the Dragons. Well, sort of, or at least that's how it had seemed at first. The White Knight had been the soul of the White Dragon all along. Likewise, the Red Knight became the soul of the Flame Sword, and the Purple Knight resided within his Lord's Shadow.

There was no such reunion or redemption in the second encounter at the Point. He'd lost them all, Knights, Swords, Dragons, and Kindly Lords to free the True Lords. These haughty lords might be more powerful than all the forces that had been sacrificed to release them, but it still balanced to the side of loss as far as Yugi was concerned.

_No wonder I don't want to think about that place. There's got to be something... _Again, unconsciously, his hand crept up to touch the Hero's Heartstone. As always, the pulse of warmth almost seemed like the greeting of a faithful friend.

Yugi went very still. What had the Chaos Dragon told him? Something important, maybe a clue to find the last line...

_"It is only within the heart of the hero that the last line, and the power to defeat me, dwells."_

"Surely it can't be that simple!" Yugi lifted the cord over his head, cupped the Heartstone between both hands, and lost himself in the swirling depths of the deep purple gem.

As always, his heartbeat meshed and aligned in perfect harmony with that of the heart contained within the stone, and a touch of warmth, along with some sense of an unshakable belief in him, comforted Yugi. It had been the Heartstone and the mystic acceptance of the gem that convinced the Water Sage that Yugi was indeed the Hero of legend. As Yugi gazed into the gentle ebb and flow of whatever magic the gem contained within, for the first time ever, along with the comforting pulse, he seemed to hear it with his ears, instead of sense it only with his heart. In time to the beat of a heart, whether his own or that of the stone - they were so close he couldn't tell - there came a sense of words.

_Claim their might_ - it beat out in counterpoint to the heartbeat rhythm as the Dread Lord told him this part of the couplet already.

You _must fight._

"I must fight? What does that mean?" Yugi whispered, afraid to disrupt whatever spell had taken hold of him and connected his heart so tightly with that of the stone.

_Claim their might,  
_you_ must fight._

_Claim their might,  
_you _must fight._

"What does it mean?"

* * *

"No idea." Hermos slid his gaze over to Yugi and grinned. "Have you decided we are on your side after all?"

"I never said..." Yugi sighed. "Give me a break, will ya? This whole Hero business has been a total pain."

Hermos reached over and cuffed him on the shoulder. "We have been kinda set on our goal, and forgot what you've been through. Clearin' the air the way you did isn't a bad thing - especially if it helped you figure out what to do - sorta."

"What's the prophecy, from the beginning?" Timaeus asked.

"Gather the Lords.  
Claim their Swords.  
Accept the Pain.  
The Dragons Gain.  
Release Legends Three,  
To combat Me.  
Claim their might,  
_You _must fight," Yugi replied.

"Claim their might." Critias looked thoughtful. "How would the Hero go about that, I wonder?"

"The way things have been going, in some sort of weird, mystical way," Hermos said.

"The Point?" Timaeus asked.

"It seemed - inert, after the last time," Yugi ventured. He really hoped it wasn't the Point. He wondered a bit at the intensity of his antipathy of the place - almost as if he were being warned away from it. Where else could he turn for insight into mystical things?

"I hate to mention it, but - the Water Sage?" Timaeus said.

"Of course! That's really where all this started after all. He'd be bound to figure out what's got to happen next!" At least, that's what Yugi hoped. Anything to avoid going to the Point, and losing something precious, for the third time. Yugi shivered. He suspected it didn't matter where they went, that loss was still stalking him. "I really don't want to go," Yugi admitted. "The Water Sage is very kind but..." He shivered. "I think things are going to change, even more so than they already have, for the worse."

"It is always darkest before the dawn," Timaeus noted softly. "But as long as you still fight, that dawn will come. I am sure of it."

Yugi shook his head. "We've lost so many already, and I fear, there's more loss in the future. Maybe we've lost so much already the dawn will never come."

"Do you want to give up?"

"Not exactly. I don't want to meekly follow some sort of destiny, I guess. I want to protect everyone, but I don't want to have to sacrifice any one else to have that ability," Yugi replied slowly. Critias nodded.

"None of us knows what is about to happen. Not now, at any rate," Hermos said.

Yugi shrugged. "To the Water Sage's. I guess there's nowhere else to go."

* * *

The pool that contained the Water Sage's home hadn't changed at all. The surface of the water ruffled with random breezes, but soon regained its peaceful stillness, its serene depths untroubled by such ephemeral forces. The calmness worked its magic upon Yugi's troubled soul, bringing him the notion that they might be able to defeat the Dread Lord and spread this serenity throughout their world. Somehow.

The surface of the water rippled from below just as Yugi reached toward the triple-hung bell. After only a moment, the Water Sage stood upon his tail on the surface of the water, and nodded gravely to the four who had gathered at the margin to his home, though his comment seemed directed toward Yugi alone. "You return, Hero, in a most timely fashion. I have just completed my research and know what we must do."

"I... That is... Things have gotten bad, really bad. Are you sure we can...?"

"Young one, you travel in the company of the great lords of old. If you, the Hero destined for the task cannot stop the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, who can?" As before, the Water Sage regarded Yugi calmly and kindly. "Still, it has been hard on you. I have done my best to keep track of you, whenever the magic forces swirling around you permitted. You've gathered ones with power to your side, then helped to consolidate that power in the manner foretold. But, I can see that though the strength of you heart is undiminished, in fact it glows with even more brightness and vigor than before, your soul is weary. You are welcome to enter my home, and take your rest this night. We should have time."

Yugi nodded. The walk along the bottom of the deep natural pool, this time in the company of the three True Lords as well as the merman Water Sage, was as quiet as before. A melancholy stole over him. The last time he'd been here marked the true start of his adventure. He'd been given directions to the Water Sage's home by Vialla and Celedor - though the reason he'd been so desperate to reach the Water Sage eluded him. Sorrow lapped at the shores of his heart as he recalled that his two elven friends, the first friends he'd met on this adventure, were now dead. Reluctance dragged at his steps the closer he approached to the giant shell that served as the Water Sage's home. The Purple Knight, the White and Red Knights; the Dragons; Yami, Seto, Joey - most recently Charvron and most of the denizens of the Dragonlands, and the rumors that the same devastation had reached both the land of Warriors and that of Shadows - it was all too much. There were too many people who had trusted in Yugi, who had followed him as the Hero, who were now - gone.

Suddenly, he couldn't see. Something wet and slimy covered his eyes and face. Odd that he'd think of something as wet since he was walking along the bottom of a pool completely under water, but he wasn't aware of the water surrounding him as 'wet' while under the effect of the Water Sage's water-breathing spell. This sudden wet thing assaulting his face shocked him into gasping, and just as suddenly he was choking on inhaled water, as if there were no spell in place to help him breathe it.

A moment later his breathing returned to normal - or at least the 'normal' of being able to breathe water and not drown in it. His vision cleared as a graceful hand scooped handfuls of brown muck from his face. A blink restored his vision fully, and Yugi found a smile creeping across his face.

The Water Sage floated before him and held the most miserable-appearing double handful of sopping wet fur that Yugi recognized as Shelleene. He felt a bit guilty, undoubtedly his blood-shadow responded to the sorrow of his thoughts and merely sought to comfort him, little realizing what she was getting into. The Water Sage smiled gently at the shadow-kuriboh and patted her head before tucking her under one arm and gesturing with the other that the party should proceed to the dock under his home.

"She's surprisingly powerful for a blood-shadow," the Water Sage noted as he stepped from the water going through his magical ritual of transforming his tail into legs, and leaving every drop of water in the pool. Shelleene went from being the most pathetic example of a drowned kuriboh to completely dry so quickly she blinked in alarm. Yugi laughed at her reaction. At the sound she dashed up to stroke against his cheek, held his face between her front paws for a long moment while she stared deeply into his eyes, then cooed softly before diving to her place in his shadow again.

"Yami - er, Lord Timaeus gave some power to her so she could manifest from my shadow more easily." Yugi stared down at his own shadow pensively. "I'm not sure she's going to be so eager the next time, though, after nearly drowning this time."

"Oh, no worries. She can't drown." The Water Sage assayed a negligently airy hand wave at the thought. "Lord Timaeus invested her with some of his power?" Yugi nodded. "It seems the millennia may have softened his heart, then." Timaeus stared then turned his back very deliberately to the Water Sage. "I could be wrong," the Water Sage continued. "It could just be that he trusts you, Hero."

Yugi watched as Timaeus' back stiffened, before the lord turned to see if he were watching. When he met Yugi's eyes, he nodded fractionally, once. It was the merest gesture of trust, yet, somehow it touched Yugi deeply, almost as if something of monumental importance had just happened.

"We all trust the Hero," Hermos spoke up. Critias nodded.

"I see. Things are proceeding according to destiny, then. Welcome to my home. May you find rest and comfort this night, and answers on the morrow."

* * *

Yugi, at least, found comfort. For the first time in many, many nights he didn't dream. Maybe the seaweed his bed was made of prevented it, or perhaps the Water Sage had placed some spell over his home that thwarted nightmares - Yugi didn't care. The completely untroubled sleep chased away most of his dark thoughts, and helped him set things into perspective. Vialla and Celedor had died, but he hadn't killed them. In fact, there was no way he could have prevented their deaths. They were caught up in destiny just as he was, just as the Kindly Lords had been, and the True Lords and Water Sage now - perhaps even as the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos was. Yugi rocked back at that thought. Was his destined enemy his enemy just because destiny ordained it? No. The Dread Lord relished his role too much. He wasn't a hapless innocent caught up by fate against his will. Unlike the rest of them trapped by destiny, he chose his actions. If not for him, there would not have been the first death, the first village driven mad by his presence, really, any reason for anyone to take up the mantle of 'Hero' and sally forth against him.

Yugi smiled at his own thoughts, and the mental images they produced. He was no dragon-slayer! Or, if he were, they were all in deep, deep trouble.

After breaking his fast with the Water Sage and the three True Lords, Yugi followed their host to the central room in his dwelling. He remembered it from last time, the chamber in the heart of the shell filled completely with water. Yugi reached up to touch the Hero's Heartstone. It was in this chamber that he had gained the artifact.

"So, we've come full circle, sage," Timaeus stated. "It was in this room that you told us our fate."

"Fate?" Yugi asked.

"That we would have to seal our power, our truest selves, and the Lord of Blackness and Chaos along with us, until the Hero were to be born," Critias said.

"Oh, yes. You did tell me about that before." Yugi remembered all too well the flight back from the Point when the three True Lords, each in dragon form, were mind-speaking with him. "But, the Lord Dragon of Chaos defeated us. Even the power of the True Lords isn't enough. Not that we've met him directly since I found the last line. At least, I think it's the last line."

"Ah, so you've recovered all of the prophecy?" the Water Sage asked. "How did you discover the last line?"

"The Lord Dragon of Chaos told me I had to look within the heart of the hero for the last line," Yugi replied.

"And what did your heart tell you?"

"My heart? Nothing."

The Water Sage smiled. "Ah, so you figured it out truly. What is the last line - as you understand it?"

Yugi smiled tightly in reply. "'You must fight'. It was the answer I 'heard' when I looked into the center of this." Yugi lifted the Hero's Heartstone. "I've never heard words before, just gotten a sense of warmth and comfort. This time, it was as if the stone were speaking to me."

"That is the same line I discovered through my scrying and research. For both of us to arrive at the same answer, I believe it must be true."

"How do I," Yugi gulped. "How do I fight the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos myself? I don't have the power the True Lords do - I don't even have the power the Kindly Lords or even the Knights did - I'm just a regular person."

Timaeus started. "You used the Gloomblade."

"What?" Yugi asked.

Timaus' eyes unfocused, even though the rest of his expression seemed to sharpen in concentration. "You wielded the Gloomblade. It accepted you as a wielder."

Yugi still didn't understand. "I found it for Lord Yami, just as I found all the swords for the Kindly Lords. Why wouldn't I be able to wield one of the blades?"

"They are tied to each of us. Spirit-bonded. That you could _use_ one..."

"That is unusual," Critias agreed.

"Normally, if other than the correct soul even touches a spirit-bonded weapon, that person is killed," Hermos added. "Or at least badly wounded."

"So, is that the power of the Hero?" Critias turned toward the Water Sage. "To break spirit bonds?"

The Water Sage shook his head. "No, or at least that is not the power of the Hero that will enable him to confront the Dread Lord directly. In the Hero the power of the Three becomes one."

"Why do I have a feeling I'm really not going to like this?" Yugi asked no one in particular.

The Water Sage sighed. "I rather suspect you are right. Your adventure has been the seeking, amassing and consolidation of power, right? You've been content with the seeking and amassing parts of it, but all of the consolidations have been difficult for you."

Yugi thought about it for a moment. "By 'consolidation' you mean whenever I lose a friend, don't you?"

"That is one way to look at it. But, each time you lose a friend, you gain more power," the Water Sage pointed out.

Yugi shook his head. "I don't want that sort of power! I would never use my friends that way!"

The Water Sage was implacable. "You aren't using your friends, you are giving their sacrifice meaning. Would you have them lose their lives to no effect? Sometimes the best way to be a friend is to accept what is freely given and use it as intended." He sighed, and softened his tone. "We are all in this together, Hero. If you do nothing, the Dread Lord will win, and far more people will lose their lives that just those pre-ordained by destiny."

Yugi glared up at the Water Sage. "Was this your crappy prophecy?"

The Water Sage lifted an eyebrow at Yugi's language. "In part, I guess it is. But, I didn't come up with the terms of the prophecy. I merely discerned them from the ebb and flow of magic throughout our land. I did set the master spell in place thousands of years ago to preserve the True Lords and their power until you would need them, and trap the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos so he couldn't destroy the lands before you were born. In that regard, I am guilty."

Yugi sighed again. "So, it's not really your fault. You just did what you thought you had to do, at the time. What can you tell me about this 'master spell'?"

"What the True Lords told you before is correct. The Pendant of Pharaoh is an ancient, powerful artifact, perhaps the most powerful one in our lands throughout all of history. I used it, along with the power of the True Lords, and the balanced magic to be found only at the Point to unbind their full power from their souls, and send it into stasis in the weave of magic between dimensions. Up to the point they told you, their information is accurate. However, their memories of the rest of the events are hazy and incomplete," the Water Sage said. "It would be best for me to show it, as I was there." He swept his arm over the pool of water in the middle of the floor and a scene formed upon its surface.

The Point appeared in the center of the scene. Under the Water Sage's mystic direction, the image shifted to show Hermos, standing before the glowing red side of the Point, flowed around to focus on Critias before the icy blue side, and settled on Timaeus silhouetted by the purple side. Just behind each one was the lord's dragon. Yugi could see the signature swords of each lord embedded lengthwise in the pyramid at the Point.

"Now, focus all of your power into your swords," The Water Sage in the scene instructed. Yugi was fascinated to note how the Water Sage floated above the ground in a large bubble of water that encased him from the waist down. Timaeus reached forward and placed his hand upon the hilt of the Gloomblade, while out of sight the other two lords could be presumed to do the same. The Water Sage intoned the following spell:

"Until the destined Hero's birth to save our world  
By the power of three Chaos's reach be furled.  
Though the path be obscure, dangerous, and hard  
The Three Lords' Knights will guide and guard.  
Three Swords are the key in the Hero's hand  
As he takes up his quest to save the land.  
Dragons Three to aid when the time is right  
His real need will be for the Lords' true might.  
When at last to the Hero the truth is revealed  
May his heart hold strong and our world be healed!"

Each True Lord, along with the syllables of the spell, lost definition, and started to glow in his signature aura. At the end, a wave of power flowed from each side of the pyramid into the proper land, and the Point glowed a very bright white from the mingling of the three energies with that of the Pendant. The view pulled back to show the glowing Point, the Water Sage, and three others standing back at a safe distance, witnessing the scene. Yugi's heart twisted a little as he recognized the now-lost Knights in the magical recording.

The three Knights opened their eyes from the dazzle to find only the Water Sage still with them at the Point. The lords, their swords, and their dragons were nowhere to be seen. The Red Knight, the most impulsive of the three, strode forward, reached out and touched the red-hot glowing impression of the Flameblade on the side of the pyramid.

"You fool!" The Water Sage remonstrated as he reached forward and hauled the Red Knight back. "Ah, there's nothing for it, now. You've seared your heart with the power of the Flameblade. A minor annoyance, but it can be worked around." He called out to the other two knights. "Each of you reach forward and touch the impression of your Lord's blade upon the side of the pyramid. What one knight does now, all must do. Freeze your soul to a Dragon's heart, White Knight, while you, Purple Knight, seal your spirit in the Shadows."

"Why are we still here, instead of guarding our lords?" the Purple Knight asked after he rounded the Point to where the Water Sage floated.

"You three are special. I know that despite the animosities between your lords, and the occasional order that forces you to fight each other, you are most reluctant to take up arms against your fellow knights. Such disdain for useless fighting and levelheadedness, not found in your lords, will be needed. The Hero might not be what you expect. My visions are hazy, at best, but I sense he will not appear to be a Hero. At first, he might not even act like a Hero."

"He will be craven?" The White Knight asked.

"No, far from it - I think. But he won't appear to be very - heroic. I must lay the hardest role upon you three. You alone will retain memory of the events that occur here - no matter how many times your lords, and yourselves, are reborn along the way. The power of the three True Lords is no more. It is locked away, so that their very souls may be preserved until the time for the Hero to confront the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. But, each of you knows how powerful his lord's spirit is. There is no way to shackle them into complete stasis as we have done with the Dragons. Therefore, their fate, and yours, is to be born, and reborn, and born yet again, in lesser forms, through the years, however many they may be, until the time comes for the True Lords to assume their full power again. You three will always recognize your lords, and each other - even though your lords often-times might not recognize you. It falls to you to keep them safe throughout their many lives. It is a hard fate..."

"But one we are willing to take on, in order to help our lords," the Purple Knight said slowly. The Red Knight and White Knight nodded.

"So - Seto, Joey, and Yami are..." Yugi interrupted as the scene dissolved.

"Were, Yugi. They _were_. You've been told already. The three Kindly Lords are no more. Each was the vessel-soul of one of the three True Lords, Critias, Hermos, and Timaeus, born into this time, to be on hand for the arrival of the Hero. You, Yugi. Only you, with their help, can hope to defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos once and for all."

"But... how?"

"You wear the key around your neck, and the doorway to the power of Legends that it opens is the Point itself where it all began," the Water Sage told him.

"But, I don't have the key any longer." Yugi's hand crept up to clasp the Hero's Heartstone. "Somehow, when I lost - that is, when Hermos, Critias, and Timaeus arrived, I left the Pendant behind."

The Water Sage started, and his eyes widened. "How - odd. Your spirit was so tied to it before with the Geas of the True Hero. Perhaps the destined return of the Legends brought enough power to break that geas. Still, it must be where you left it. It is not as if the Point is a place where many ever go. The True Lords can take you back so you can retrieve it, while I gather what we need for the final ritual. I can meet you there."

"Wait. There's something I don't understand."

"Yes?"

"In the scene you just showed us, the three True Lords were at the Point along with their Knights, Swords, and Dragons. Yami, Seto and Joey," Yugi gulped. "they might have been only 'vessels' to contain the souls of the True Lords and we still have the Swords, but why have we lost the Knights and Dragons? They were _with_ their lords, alongside of them, before - not merely part of them as the Kindly Lords were."

"You are quick as always, Hero. In part it was the Red Knight's action, that the other two knights had to follow. Their souls were altered by that contact with the residual effect of the full unbound power of their lords. Also in part, it is the sheer amount of time that has passed since the sealing. In order to recall their full power, nature, and souls from the magical weave, it used up the power that had been in the keeping of the dormant Dragons, and the active Knights throughout the eons. Eventually, if fate had been kinder to our efforts, as each True Lord gained in power naturally, he would have enough to release his Knight and his Dragon again. Perhaps in as short as a few hundred years. But now..."

"But now - what?" Yugi demanded.

His perceptions flipped inside out. A shock of pure terror insisted _he_ had been turned inside out, too. Fire danced a frozen path across his tongue, while a creeping mass of ice burned along his spine. Shadows lit the phantasmagorical scene with a brilliance that put the noonday sun to shame. He reached up to clutch at his head, but stopped in horror at the sharp, deadly, and living flexible knives his fingers had become. Gold and purple energy writhed in agony in front of him, while Lord Critias sprouted dragon wings of all shapes, colors and sizes all over his armor. Of Lord Hermos there was no sign, only a brightly flaring sword seemingly trying to drown its own flame in the pool of water - which was recoiling and lapping up the surface of the walls to get away. A graceful hand reached down from above him, and drew him under the surface of a mass of water floating above his head.

Immediately, his vision cleared, showing him that his rescuer was the Water Sage. He was relieved to see his hands had returned to normal, too. Outside the pool of clarifying water, Yugi noticed Yami standing still, eyes closed, and quivering as if he fought some intense, internal struggle. _Yami?_ Yugi blinked, and no, it appeared to be Lord Timaeus. Seto batted futilely at the wings erupting from his very skin. Before Yugi's mind could grasp that fully, his unsteady vision showed him Lord Critias instead. Likewise, for a scant moment, Yugi thought he saw Joey trying to douse the red flames that completely surrounded, yet somehow didn't burn, in water that avoided him like a living thing, before his perception flipped and he recognized Lord Hermos.

"What's happened?" Yugi asked. Only then did he realize that the Water Sage had once again given him the ability to breathe water.

"Magical chaos." The Water Sage looked stunned. For the first time, Yugi thought of the Water Sage as not 'venerable', or 'wise', but merely old, and somehow defeated. "The power of magic has been disorganized. You see how it affects the True Lords far more than it affects us. It can only mean that..."

"What? What does it mean?" Yugi insisted.

"The Point. The Point serves as the balance of magic. It is literally the fulcrum of our world. It's been destroyed." The Water Sage shook his head. "I can think of no way... Without the Point or the Pendant, I fear there is no way to defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos and save our world."

* * *

Author's notes –

Next chapter teaser – Legendary Hero


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three – Legendary Hero**

The Point gleamed, the light glinting off of its pristine sides in flashes of gold. It was perfect, no sign of damage sullying its shape. It floated in the sky with a serene disregard for the impossibility of what it was doing. It hovered, hundreds of feet above the pool of the Water Sage's home, unsupported by any visible force. It still existed, even past its destruction, at least in this magical representation. Yugi stared at the impossibility of it, and something teased against the edges of his memory. He had never seen the Point like this before, and yet, there was something so familiar about it that he nearly staggered.

"Why is it upside down?" he asked. "It looks like a giant version of the Pendant of Pharaoh."

"It is only a magical reflection of the real place, which has been destroyed," the Water Sage told him. "Look."

At the mystic's gesture, Yugi looked into the pool. The Water Sage's shell-shaped home was gone. In the water, scintillating with the magic of its ethereal substance, the Point, right side up glittered at him.

"There was enough magic stored in my home to anchor and balance the forces of Shadow, Ice, and Fire here and project it into the sky. The Dread Lord may have destroyed the physical Point and the Pendant that controlled it, but this mystic one will serve us now."

"But, your home..." Yugi protested faintly.

"This is the end time, Hero. If you do not confront the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos here, and defeat him, he will never be stopped. My home is the smallest price that must be paid to ensure you have the power to face him."

Yugi stared at the Water Sage at that. "'The smallest price'? I don't like the sound of that. What else is there...?"

Timaeus abruptly appeared next to them, shadow-walking right into the conversation. Critias and Hermos approached, to hear what the Lord of Shadows had to report. "He comes. A massive Chaos Storm is flowing across all the lands. It will be here in mere moments."

"We've run out of time. Rather, it is the time destined from eons ago. We must now put everything into the Hero's hands, and trust our futures to him," the Water Sage said.

"Yeah. We'd hoped it wouldn't come to this." Hermos shook his head. "If only there'd been more time... He wouldn't have to bear it all himself." Hermos clapped Yugi on the shoulder. "Go get 'im. I know you can do it, Yugi!"

He walked several paces away and assumed his gigantic red dragon form. "_Are you ready, Sage?_" The Water Sage nodded, folded his hands together, then pulled them apart to show flames dancing between them. He turned his hands outward, then lifted them to aim at the upside down Point hanging in the sky. A red beam, similar to the one that had shot into the Firelands from the physical Point before, flared and touched the mystic Point hanging in the sky. Fire surrounded it, and when the flames cleared the Point had changed.

"That's Joey's castle!" Yugi exclaimed. It did look exactly like the Warrior Stronghold, surrounded by flickering flames.

_"Here I go! Hero, use what I give you to defeat the Dread Lord!" _Hermos sprang into the air and flew up to the castle, passing through what seemed to be a multicolored heat shimmer. As the dragon reached the Warrior Stronghold a massive flare of red stained across the sky. Through eyes stinging from the flash of light, Yugi noticed that the upside down Point had returned. Of Hermos there was no sign. Yugi realized the Point was now turning, and one of the three sides gleamed in tones of fire. When that side faced him directly, another beam of red light shot out, directly at him.

Before Critias or Timaeus could react, the beam reached him. Yugi threw up one arm defensively. The red light stopped at his arm. For a timeless moment, Yugi was connected to the Point by that beam of red light, then it solidified on his arm.

"Behold the Fire Shield of Warriors!" The Water Sage exclaimed.

"Wha-What?!" Yugi stammered.

"The fullest expression of the power of the True Lord Hermos, his mastery over Fire, and the stalwart heart of his Warriors, combined into a Legendary Relic that only the Hero may wield. We had hoped it wouldn't come to this desperate pass," Critias explained. "It is my turn to give up everything so that you may directly use my power."

As Critias finished speaking he too assumed his massive dragon aspect. He nodded gravely toward the remaining True Lord, the Hero, and the Sage. The Water Sage repeated his mystic gesture, though this time shifting, shimmering ice appeared between his hands. The beam he shot toward the Point was a blue-white sheen of power. At its touch, the Point was encased in ice, which immediately shattered apart to reveal the Dragon Lord's Aerie. Critias roared a challenge as he lifted on his mighty blue wings and charged at the castle.

Yugi involuntarily closed his eyes at the burst of blue-white energy. The Point, still upside down, reappeared in the sky, turning even faster than before. Yugi expected one side to reflect the color of the Lord of Ice and Dragons, and managed to remain still as the beam of energy shot at him from the icy-blue toned side. He reached forward, into the heart of the energy that seemed to wait, a trifle impatiently, for him to do just that. The energy coalesced in his hand, taking on the form of a massive sword.

"The Ice Sword of Dragons?" Yugi asked bemusedly.

"Indeed. All the power of Ice, and the proud hearts of the mightiest Dragons solidified into the weapon of the Hero," Timaeus agreed. "Critias places it all in your hands. Wield it well, Hero."

Yugi shook his head. "This isn't right. Why...?"

"It is the only way our powers can be combined. It is only by sacrificing our very selves that we can truly give our power to another. And, it had to be to one that each of us trusts completely to use that power for the benefit of all. You, Yugi."

"But...!"

"There is no time. The Chaos Storm is here." Timaeus pointed toward the horizon where acid green and violet flashes of lightning, and the peculiar indigo clouds heralded the approach of the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. He placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders and turned the shorter man to face him. "There is no other I trust as I do you, Yugi. You have the strength and will soon have all of my power at your command to face him. There is no one more worthy than you for me to entrust my power to, and no one more worthy than you to save us all," he told Yugi earnestly. "This isn't good-bye, Yugi." Timaeus shot him the confident, slightly lopsided grin that reminded Yugi so much of Yami. "Beat that dragon's ass once and for all and you'll know what I mean."

Timaeus brought Yugi fully into his arms for an abrupt hug before releasing him, stepping back, and assuming his imposing teal dragon shape. The Water Sage's mystic gestures seems hasty this time, as the darkness of the impending Chaos Storm, and the mad gibber of the tormented souls whipped up around them. The dark beam surrounded by a spiral of purple that he aimed at the Point flared with the pure darkness of Shadow. Yugi wasn't surprised to see how the Citadel of Shadows emerged from the massive Shadow that covered it. Timaeus turned on a wingtip before passing through the mystic margin to gaze at Yugi one final time. While still moving backward, the dragon nodded toward him gravely, then turned and dove into the dark illusion of his own castle.

The darkened flash as the last of the True Lords sacrificed his power still caused Yugi to close his eyes. When he opened them again, the upside down mystic Point, spinning even faster, presented the final side, hued in shadows of purple and gold. The energy beam flared, but didn't stop in front of Yugi as the other two had. This one seemed to shoot right through him, though no sensation accompanied it. Yugi watched with a strange frisson skittering across his spine, as the dark beam entered his chest right over his heart. After the beam ended, Yugi felt the slightest compression along his arms and back. It eerily mirrored the quick hug Timaeus had given him only a moment before.

"The Blood Cloak of Shadows," the Water Sage said as he smiled sadly. "Interesting how the most powerful lord presents the fullness of his power in the gentlest of forms."

Yugi crossed his arms to grasp the opposite edge of each side of the Cloak in each hand and lift it to take a closer look. "I'm relieved it isn't actually made of blood," he said. There was a sense of comfort in the feel of the cloak, the same comfort Yugi had always felt from the various Shadows that protected him along his journey.

"Everything is in your hands," the Water Sage told him. "All Warriors, all Dragons, and all Shadows have given their all, along with their Lords, to grant you the power to confront Chaos, Hero. You are now the most powerful force this world can produce to face him."

"You mean that all Warriors, Dragons, and Shadows – are gone?" Yugi felt a spurt of pure horror even as he voiced the thought.

"Dis-incorporated is more like it. Their various life forces are yours to command in the three Legendary Relics you now possess."

"How do I use them? I don't know..."

"Now is not the time for doubt, Hero! Everyone has placed their trust in you. Here comes the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos now."

The Chaos Storm whirled all around them. The Water Sage inscribed a circle in the air and an area of calm sprang up around where he floated, an area big enough to include Yugi. The enormous Lord Dragon landed in front of them. He glared at them both before he reared up on his hind legs, let out a thunderous roar and stretched up toward the sky. Energy flared in multi-color spikes off of the dragon's form as he stretched to his full length, then beyond. The roar morphed into a sound halfway between a shout of defiance and a bellow of pain before the energy that had been flowing out suddenly reversed, as if being pulled back into the dragon. He quickly became too bright to look at, glowing with power.

When the glow subsided, and Yugi could open his eyes once more, there was no sign of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. That's not to say that he was once again alone with the Water Sage. A tall man stood before them in the same place the dragon had been. He was stretched to his fullest height, with his hands spread above his tossed-back head. Tension ran through the taut lines of his form. The man lowered his hands, grasped a glowing staff that appeared in the air in front of him, lowered his chin, and opened his eyes.

The red of the man's eyes glowed oddly against the yellow of his sclera, and jarred in an unsettling manner against the deep azure tone of his skin. He smiled toward Yugi and the Water Sage. Yugi thought it wasn't a particularly nice smile.

"You've interfered in my plans for the last time, mystic," the newcomer said. "You should not have been able to consolidate his power without the Point. I am most displeased."

"Pleasing you has never been a priority of mine," the Water Sage replied evenly.

"That is so. And that will be your undoing." He raised his banded staff in his right hand, leveled it at the Water Sage's chest, and shot a blast directly at him. The Water Sage crossed his arms defensively against the magic and withstood the attack. He opened his arms with a snap, dissipating the destructive strike harmlessly. "Fall! You must," his attacker said.

"Never. You know I have the power to resist you."

"True, but to what purpose? Our destructive potential is the same. But, consider this: I still wield the power of a pure and potent darkness, while your power is admixed with the nature of water. My force of unadulterated darkness is the stronger."

The Water Sage growled in reply.

The newcomer laughed. "As you wish, of course. I know you. Eventually, the urge to go on the attack will win and your defensive posture will falter. Then you will see the truth of what I claim. Also consider that it will all be for naught unless I confront yon Hero over there."

The Water Sage shook his head. "Not alone. That was never the plan..."

"Alone. Or not at all."

"We never intended..."

"_You_ might not have. I have been working toward this end from the start."

The Water Sage narrowed his eyes at his foe. He shook his head. "This was a mistake. To permit you to..."

"Not a mistake. It is the way it must be. I will see this plan through to the end – the true end that you are too soft to willingly permit. The choice is yours, Water Sage. Strive, if you must, against me now, and submit to what must happen, or take the alternate route realizing that you will earn his distrust and disdain – and perhaps lose the regard of the other one as well."

The Water Sage growled low in his throat, shaking his head as if in some sort of agony. "I was so mistaken... I never should have permitted you this freedom... How could I have been so blind!" A green jeweled staff appeared in the air next to his right hand. The newcomer smirked. Growling even deeper the Water Sage grasped the staff, aimed it, and shot a beam at his taunting foe. The man mirrored his actions and returned magical fire. The energy shot through the Water Sage's beam dissipating it harmless around its target, while piercing through and seeking the center of the mystic's chest. A massive hole appeared and the Water Sage went down.

"NO!" Yugi dashed over to the Water Sage and dropped his sword quickly enough to catch the stricken mystic's head and shoulders in his arms and prevent him from crashing all the way to the ground. "Water Sage, not you, too!"

"Heart struck – the only way to defeat me," the Water Sage muttered.

"No!" Yugi shouted again, only slightly more softly.

"I fear – it is so – Hero." The Water Sage paused and grimaced in pain. Yugi was horrified to notice how the Water Sage's features began to melt and flow. He realized that the Sage was turning into water in his arms. "You alone – have the power – to defeat him."

"He's killed you! How can I hope to...?"

The Water Sage weakly reached up and rested his hand on Yugi's chest. "You will – prevail. Power – of the – heart... It's your – power – Yugi..."

The Water Sage lost all cohesion, turning into water as he breathed his last. Yugi watched as that water flowed to the ground and splashed into the pool. The massive illusion of the Point floating overhead disappeared, not in a sudden flash, but with the inevitable gentleness of morning mist when struck by sunlight. The loss washed over Yugi, sorrow, fury, and horror lacing together in his soul. He was alone now, truly alone. Knights, Dragons, Lords, Swords, his first friends on this adventure, Vialla and Celedor, and now the Water Sage – there were none to stand by his side as he faced this most dreadful foe directly. He suspected he knew exactly who this man was, and what he, the Hero, had to do. He reached down blindly, his hand unerringly finding the hilt of the Ice Sword of Dragons. As he stood up, he realized that despite holding the Water Sage as he died, and witnessing how that august personage dissolved into water, his clothes weren't the least bit damp. The mystic had been considerate to the last. Somehow that tiny fact solidified Yugi's resolve.

"Oh, have you finished mourning already? You can take more time, if you wish, Hero. I can wait."

"The waiting is over," Yugi told him in a low tone of voice.

"Is it? Good." The newcomer looked around. "Interesting things happened here. Powerful magic has been released, then contained once more. Do you like?" The tall man who only a few moments before had seemed to be the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos threw his arms out wide and turned completely around. "But your thoughts are misleading you. I do not merely seem to be the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, I _am_ he. Rather, that is the form I was forced to wear until this – the time of our destined, final meeting, Hero."

His mouth falling open at evidently having his thoughts read so accurately by this new-seeming enemy, Yugi had to look up to see into the man's face. Though the dusky blue skin, oddly hued red and yellow eyes, and assured, smirking smile were new, Yugi still felt as if there was much of the Chaos Dragon about this man. The extravagantly curving horns on the helmet surely had something to do with that, along with the muddy red and indigo-toned leather and buckle armor that reminded him strongly of the banded scales of the Lord Dragon he had been before.

"I'm not surprised you didn't recognize me right away, Hero. I have been prevented from achieving the fullness of my power for eons." He stretched his arms out again, and breathed deep. "Being a dragon was fun, for the first few decades or so, but it feels so good to once again wear the shape of a man!" The Lord of Blackness and Chaos winked at him. "It seems those three foolish lords had to regain all their power, then lose their shape entirely in order for me to regain mine. There's a balanced symmetry to it all, don't you think? So, my befuddled Hero, shall we then?"

"Wha-what?"

"Come now, Hero." The Lord of Blackness and Chaos smirked even deeper at him. "This is how it should be. All the twists and turns of destiny have been fulfilled and we are now down to just us two – me, restored to my true form, power, and glory, and you enhanced – well, as much as you can be, by the special Legendary Relics crafted of the very bonds of friendship you formed with those you adventured with. Well, that's the nice way to put it. One could say that your Legendary Relics were formed of the witless remains of the fools who believed in you, but that would be gauche. We must have our final confrontation, Hero, in order to determine who the winner is. Will it be you, the Hero who believes in the power of his friends, or moi, the capricious once dragon-shaped Dread Lord of Blackness and Chaos? Will light and peace flow over the land at my defeat," Mocking nearly dripped from his tone. "or will I be free to spread darkness and chaos as I please once I crush your final, pathetic resistance? The time for our conflict is now!"

Yugi dropped the smirking gaze of the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. He felt woefully outmatched by his foe. He had never wanted to be the Hero. There were times he had doubted he was the Hero. But, images flowed across his mind showing him in a quick flash all that he had accomplished. The Kindly Lords had tested him, and found him worthy. In turn, he had somehow been drawn to find and claim each of the Kindly Lord's elemental Swords. Using those Swords, and the Pendant that had accepted only him, he had released the Dragons, and ultimately, revived the Legends. They had slowed Chaos and thwarted his efforts. He might still not quite believe he was the Hero, but events had conspired to place him in the role. Through the power and in the name of his friends, and all who had placed their trust in him, Yugi would fight. On his own he might not be the Hero, but he wasn't on his own. His friends might not be by his side, but they'd given him the power to fight: more, they had given him their trust. He would focus on that trust, and all the friends he held in high regard in his heart, and fight until the Lord of Blackness and Chaos surrendered – or managed to tear him apart.

Yugi looked up, seeking the gaze of his enemy, hoping his own gaze would hold firm and show the resolve in his heart. The Lord of Blackness and Chaos smiled gently at him, and nodded, as if in approval. His tone was soft and respectful as he addressed Yugi. "Despite everything, even knowing that the power I hold far outstrips yours, you would still vie against me? I knew you had it in you, Yugi. Others might doubt, but I have always known the strength of your spirit. Now, it's time to let all the pretenses drop." Chaos lowered his staff and turned away. "The adventure is complete and the Hero is triumpha–"

"CHAOS!"

"What?!" Chaos turned back to find Yugi, chin lowered and fury all but blazing from his glaring eyes.

"You turn your back on me and talk as if I've won – when we haven't even fought. You hate me, and want to ruin my world, how dare you turn away from me now?! Do you regard me so little that you won't even fight?" Yugi demanded.

"There is nothing further from the truth than that. I will not fight you, not because I hate you or believe you are beneath my notice, but because I hold you in the highest regard and honor. This adventure is over, my friend, and you have solved it well." The Lord of Blackness and Chaos reached an open, placating hand toward him

"Adventure? What was it all for? Why did I have to lose everyone I cared about? Why did you attack me each and every step of the way; why did you send me such portentous dreams; what was the point of _anything_ if we do not resolve the conflict between us? I will save my world from your evil! I will not allow my friends' sacrifices to be in vain!" Yugi shouted. He gathered his strength in his legs, leaned into the mystic warrior skills that Lord Joey had imbued in him seemingly so long ago, and launched himself at the towering Lord of Blackness and Chaos with all the power of his frustration and fury concentrating in a visible blaze along the edge of his sword.

"Wha–?!"

Everything seemed to slow down to a crawl as the Lord of Blackness and Chaos brought his staff to bear. Shelleene dashed out from Yugi's shadow and before he could warn her away, the energy tore her apart. The beam struck his Ice Sword of Dragons shattering it into thousands of sparkling shards. Undimmed by the destruction, the energy lashed against his Fire Shield of Warriors and likewise demolished it. As if somehow alive, Yugi's Blood Cloak of Shadows writhed into the way, only to be pierced by that killing beam and fall in inert folds around his body. Just as the beam annihilated the last of his defenses, Yugi felt a fierce heat along his breastbone, and a brilliant purple light surrounded him. The clash of ultimate energies launched Yugi high into the sky. Once the incredible magical forces lifting him up were sufficiently spent, gravity regained its hold on him, and pulled him earthward.

Falling...

falling...

...falling...

–end of Part One–

– – – – –  
Author's Notes –

Yugi's been through a lot, but Part One finally (finally!) comes to an end.

Next chapter teaser – Part Two – A Matter of Memory


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four – A Matter of Memory**

Sunlight filtered down through leaves that rustled softly in a gentle breeze. The dappling shadows danced playfully across two supine forms on a grass-covered hillock. Yami stirred, opened his eyes, and sat up. The confusion in his gaze morphed into concern as he spied Yugi next to him. Before he could reach out and touch Yugi on the shoulder, Yugi's eyes opened, revealing his confusion. In silence, each trying to gather his memory, they rose to their feet, and that is when they realized they weren't entirely alone.

"Mahaad, what's going on? Why did we...?" Yami spread his hands in a gesture to indicate his non-comprehension of the events he'd just experienced.

The spellcaster's lips turned up in a satisfied, secret smile. "It seems a touch of forgetfulness attached itself to my spell. Forgive me that in order to ensure your cooperation during Yugi's adventure, you had to be caused to forget yourself."

"Is that really what happened?" Yugi turned a troubled gaze up at the Dark Magician. "Yami was still Yami, just not..."

"Perhaps I misstated. Minds were made forgetful, but hearts were not. Everyone still behaved according to his own heart. He just didn't know why."

Yugi nodded, accepting that explanation.

"But, the forgetfulness I speak of is not the one of the adventure. Even now, each of you has forgotten important events. There was a reason I felt compelled to create that adventure for you, Yugi." With that cryptic remark, Mahaad disappeared.

"That has not ceased to be annoying in the extreme," Yami noted, staring pensively in the space Mahaad had magically vacated. Yugi didn't respond. He'd forgotten something? Yami had, too? That concerned him, despite Mahaad's casual attitude toward it. Yugi relied on his memory, he couldn't start doubting it. What could he have forgotten? He knew he would have no peace until he recalled it. It was as if the bottom dropped out of his world and he was falling...

Come to think of it, he'd fallen into Mahaad's adventure in the first place – then fallen out of it once he'd solved it. Had the adventure been crafted that way on purpose? Why would Mahaad have gone through all that trouble? Mahaad, in Yugi's experience, was not frivolous. There had to have been a reason.

_Think, Motou! Think! _Falling. He'd been falling. And not just a minor trip over a curb or down the stairs, this was a fall that... A fall that would have broken him. But, why did the sense of an endless fall pass across his mind?

"A – building," Yami stated slowly. "A building – fell – on you." Yugi had never seen such a solemn sorrow in his partner's eyes. He reached out to comfort Yami, and reeled at the flood of memories flooding his mind as he touched Yami's arm. Yugi had taken the shortcut Joey suggested, and that Yami deemed safe despite the warnings posted around the condemned building looming over the path. The building had fallen on him, pain had battered him, and then he had fallen. But, if a building had smashed him, how could he fall any further? He closed his eyes, willing his mind to go back and recover the memory. He swayed as he re-experienced it, instead.

Falling...

...falling...

* * *

_His fall stopped. There was no pain. Memory of pain, yes; but actual pain, of that, no trace. Arms wrapped around him, holding him tight, pulling him deep against a strong chest and a steady, but rapid, heartbeat. The arms held him tight, crushingly tight, but against the anticipation of crushing pain, this crushing sensation was a welcome relief._

_"Yugi!" The syllables of his name rumbled through the heartbeat holding him so close. Yugi's heartbeat, still held so tight against the other one, meshed and aligned. Only one heart could sync so closely with his. And, there was only one place it could happen._

_"Y–Yami? What – happened?"_

_"Yugi! I thought I lost you! I'm so sorry, so very sorry!"_

_Yugi struggled to catch his breath against the too-tight grip of his partner's embrace. "Yami, you're crushing me!"_

_"Better me than that building," Yami said, nevertheless easing his hold around Yugi's chest. Yugi managed to pull a full breath into his lungs._

_"So, that was real?"_

_"As real as only real can be," Yami replied. "Yugi, I'm sorry. If I hadn't said that shortcut was okay..."_

_Yugi brushed Yami's apology aside. "No harm done. Why are we here?" He recognized this shadowed corridor – the one that joined his soul room to Yami's – the mystical 'place' his mind created whenever he turned his consciousness toward the link he shared with his partner through the Millennium Puzzle._

_"You..." Yami seemed unable to meet Yugi's gaze with his characteristic candor. "You were hurt in that building collapse. Not fatally, thank the gods, but still, seriously hurt. It... It's my fault. I won't..." Yami looked Yugi full in the face and Yugi read Yami's determination there. "I won't allow you to feel the pain of my mistake. I pulled you here, so you won't feel it. Until your body heals, I will bear its pain."_

_"Yami..." Yugi began._

_"NO! Yugi, this isn't something I will discuss with you. My mind is made up!"_  
_  
Yugi's temper flared and he stepped out of Yami's half-embrace. "So you will make all the decisions for me? Who died and made you king?"_

_Coldness settled in Yami's eyes and a painful precision highlighted his words. "This decision of mine is abrupt. And you were hurt. Despite my best efforts, some of the pain touched you before I could intervene, so I will forgive that. But, there will be no discussion about this. Until you are well..."_

_"You will hold me hostage, here?" Yugi demanded. "You will hijack my own body from me?!"_

_"It is the only way to protect you..."_

_"I never asked for that protection!" Yugi balled his fists in frustration. They could share the pain until he was healed. Better that than to let Yami accept it all. "Yami, please..."_

_"Yugi." Yami's expression softened as he looked down at his soul-partner, and warmth flooded his gaze again. "This is the only way. It's only for a few days until the medicine can take enough of the edge off for you to bear it."_

_**"Yuge!"**_

_"Joey!" Yugi exclaimed. "Yami, let me...!"_

_"No, Yugi. Just... No. I will take care of this." Yami crowded Yugi, grasping his elbow in a nearly painful hold, and herding him toward the door to Yugi's brightly-lit soul-room. "This is the only way. I will return as soon as I can._

_**"Motou, you look like hell."**_

_"Seto?!" Yugi gasped. His surprise was deep enough that Yami finished shoving him into his soul-room and closed the door. Yugi sensed a lock sliding into place, even though there was no lock on his door. The knob refused to turn under his hand._

_**"Joey, Kaiba, what are you doing here?"**_

_Yugi winced at the patently false high tones of the voice. Yami was pretending to be him? But, his friends knew about the pharaoh within Yugi, now. Surely Joey would see through..._

_**"Yuge, Moneypants is right – you look like hell. If you're gonna wrestle buildings..."**_

_**"Yeah, Call you for back-up, right? ** __**Tristan already offered." **__A harsh, rasping cough sounded. It hurt Yugi just to hear it. On the other side of the door, he could almost feel a wave of agony washing through the shared corridor. There was __no way __he was going to permit Yami to take all that pain on himself. He could shoulder his part of it, he knew it. Didn't Yami know by now Yugi was stronger than he looked?_

_"Dammit, Yami! Let me out!" Yugi banged on the door with both fists, and shouted at the top of his lungs._

_**"You all right, Yugi? You kinda zoned out for a minute there. Should I get the nurse?"**_

_"No, I'm fine. It's just..."_

_The sense of being 'locked in' intensified. The voices of his friends faded. Yugi knew Yami had thoroughly exiled him from the outside world – and his own body_

_"Dammit."_

_He glanced sourly at his soul-room, his special place of retreat abruptly turned into his prison. "Stupid, high-handed, arrogant pharaoh!"_

_Yugi scowled at the games strewn on the floor, the light-hearted diversions of his mind. He knew that Yami was not intending to punish him, but being summarily shoved into his soul room and locked in sure made him feel like an errant child being put into 'time out'. He flopped onto his bed._

* * *

The memory-stream stopped as Yami stepped away from Yugi, breaking the connection.

"I didn't mean to... Yugi, I... I had no right..."

"You're right. You didn't," Yugi agreed flatly.

"But, I... It was my fault!" Yami exclaimed. "If I hadn't told you it was safe..."

"Yami, after having just gone through that adventure of Mahaad's, you know in your heart... You know it's not your fault. It was my choice to follow your advice, and Joey's suggestion. No one else's. There isn't any 'fault' to be assigned. Certainly not any to be assumed."

Yami didn't answer in words, but his eyes appeared a bit less troubled. Yugi went on.

"I think... That's what Mahaad wanted me to discover during the adventure. My life is mine to live – I need to make the choices, even if I make the wrong ones sometimes. There's no guilt for you to take, Yami, because it's mine. I decided to use the shortcut. I am the one who got myself hurt. The blame for what happened is on _me_."

Yami looked at Yugi. It's true he did sometimes try to wrap Yugi in cotton wool and save him from every bad thing in the world – even the ones that had nothing to do with the Shadow Games, the Millennium Items, or his presence in Yugi's soul. He had been interfering in the young man's life... Yes. Yugi wasn't a child, he was a young man. He knew it, in his heart of hearts, even though his first instinct, even now, was to protect Yugi from everything. He'd have to keep alert, now that he was aware his instinct for protectiveness had crossed the border into stifling.

"I promised once to never go against your will. I didn't intend to, in my attempt to protect you from pain. You know I wouldn't have done anything, while in control, but remain in the hospital..."

"Suffering all the pain – my pain – all by yourself," Yugi finished. "I wouldn't – don't – will that on you, Yami," Yugi finished softly.

"How did Mahaad become involved?" Yami groused.

Knowing that Yami was experiencing the replay of memories along with him, Yugi smiled and leaned against his 'other self' again.

* * *

_"Dammit!" Yugi flopped on his bed, and wondered if he could 'lock' his door from the inside, to keep Yami out – that is, when Yami deigned to return to let him out. Something poked his back when he rolled over. Reaching a hand down blindly, he pulled out the Dark Magician plushie that Mana had made for him. Even the sight of his favorite duel monster in cute, miniature form couldn't cheer him up. The smirk on the Magician's tiny face irritated him. He hurled it as far as he could from the bed._

_"What troubles you that my avatar be exiled from your presence so abruptly, young one?" Mahaad materialized, deftly caught the plush toy, and stepped toward Yugi._

_"Don't call me that!" Yugi lashed out. "I'm not some child to be humored out of a tantrum!" He jumped up from the bed and glared up into the face of the real Dark Magician._

_"True. You are no child, my master," Mahaad finally replied. He inclined his head respectfully._

_Yugi's anger deflated. "Don't call me that, either. Actually," A hint of a shy smile crossed Yugi's face. "I like it when you call me 'young one'. I'm not your master, so don't call me that."_

_"As you wish," Mahaad nodded. Yugi glanced with sharp suspicion at him, blatantly wondering if Mahaad had disobediently added a 'my master' silently. He sort of got that sense from his favorite shadow monster. Mahaad's neutral, yet helpful, expression gave nothing away as he continued. "Now, tell me what has happened. You are upset as I have never witnessed before, and I sense a strong spirit-lock on the door. What has my pharaoh been troubling you with?"_

_Yugi's eyes blazed in indignation. "Yami...!"_

_"...is an idiot," Mahaad finished for him. "Yes, I am well aware of that. What has his idiocy wrought that you are brought to such a state, my... Yugi?"_

* * *

"That is my cue to supply my part," Mahaad murmured as he suddenly appeared in front of Yami and Yugi. He smiled as Yami started in surprise, but Yugi didn't. The adventure had benefits for him, too, if Yugi were less surprised by his actions that Yami was. It detracted nothing from the inner strength of either young man that he was friends with both. It did not escape Mahaad's notice that Yami, even though he'd been startled, had moved closer to Yugi, instinctively angling his body to protect his partner from the direction of the 'threat'.

"'Idiot', huh?" Yami glared at Mahaad before breaking into a smile. He eased back a little from his defensive position. "I guess it's better than some of the things you used to call me years ago."

"I suppose, after so many years, even you must have matured, if only a little," Mahaad agreed.

"Will you two knock it off until we undo this memory mess?" Yugi demanded.

Mahaad's twinkling gaze and Yami's sparkling stare suddenly dazzled Yugi. Without any apparent exchange or communication of any sort, in unison, they said, "Of course, my master!" Yami even embellished it with a bow.

Yugi rolled his eyes. Mahaad placed his hand on Yugi's shoulder, knowing that by leaning toward Yami enough to touch him, Yugi would complete the mystic circuit and share the memories.

* * *

_Mahaad considered the angry young man before him. His magical senses had alerted him to the alarming changes in the door to the soul-room, and Yugi's disquiet when he touched the Dark Magician plush toy had summoned him more certainly than a shout could have._ _He watched, and listened carefully, not interrupting as Yugi explained. Yugi, in his experience, was a remarkably level-headed person, whose emotional equilibrium made him the best able to 'house' Yami's more volatile spirit. The balance of their partnership was a critical, but delicate, matter. Mahaad feared that Yami had pushed Yugi too far to maintain that partnership – though he knew his friend well enough to understand why he did. And, Mahaad did genuinely respect and care about Yugi, too. Notwithstanding his ancient oaths to Yami, Mahaad would willingly serve one such as Yugi for the strength the young man carried, evidently unknowingly, in his own heart. And, revealing that hidden strength was the possible path to lead them all from the brink of disaster._

_"I must apologize, Yugi. I am, or was, a spirit sorcerer; the lock Yami placed upon your door is one I taught him to use," Mahaad began._

_"Oh, that's not your fault," Yugi said. Mahaad was relieved to see Yugi's usual good-natured attitude return. "Like you said, Yami's the idiot. I just..." Yugi looked around his room. "I don't want to be locked in. Can you open the door?" Yugi looked up at Mahaad._

_Mahaad extended him magical sense toward the door. "I could, but not without hurting Yami. He respects you enough to have used a considerable amount of his will forming the spirit-lock. As well he should," Mahaad hastened to add. "Your will is strong – an equal to his. But, a will battle between you will harm both of you. I would advise against it. Especially as your body is weakened. Peace and quiet are what you need to recover from the physical ordeal."_

_"But...!"_

_"The lock is not designed to lock you in quite so much as to prevent you from entering Yami's soul room, or the corridor and taking control of your body. It is misguided, but my pharaoh does seek merely to protect you and not punish you."_

_"I'm not a little kid who needs protection!" Yugi exclaimed._

_"No, you are not a little kid. But, each of us needs protection at some time or another, do we not? For all my power I need protection from time to time. You know that Yami relies upon you to protect him..."_

_"Does he?" Yugi asked bitterly. "It doesn't seem like it!"_

_"Yugi, have you considered that Yami acts as he does because he feels guilty that you were hurt? From what you said, he urged you to use the shortcut Joey told you about against your better judgement.," Mahaad asked._

_"He shouldn't feel guilty. I was in control, and he's never – until today that is – taken control from me before without damn good cause, like a battle in the Shadow Realm. The choice to use the shortcut was __mine__. If I had gone the long way around he might have teased me about it, but he would have understood," Yugi replied._

_"I didn't say he was right to feel guilty, just that he might. Such extreme measures as he has taken would indicate that, I think."_

_"He shouldn't feel guilty..." Yugi repeated weakly._

"_I h__ave not been locked away." Mahaad winked. "If you grant me permission, as you are my duelist, I can ascertain what is happening..."_

_"Yes! Can you?" Yugi grinned. "Please, it's making me crazy to not know what happened to me, and what is going on, now. I know that Joey and Seto are there, but, Yami locked me out of the conversation. Can you find out what is going on?"_

_For his answer, Mahaad nodded his head, smiled reassuringly, and faded from Yugi's soul room._

* * *

"I watched as you pretended to be Yugi, my pharaoh." Mahaad smiled. "Pretended badly. I realized that your overly-protective attitude was creating considerable friction between you. It seemed reasonable for me to do what I could to bring both of you into better accord with each other. I hope that each of you learned that Yugi is fully able to take care of himself, even in difficult and strange situations. And, Yugi, Yami was merely trying to protect you. You were not upset when the Lord of Shadows protected you in the adventure – or were you?"

"No, but, it really hurt when he sacrificed his life to help me. I – I'm scared that Yami might do that, for real, someday. I'd never forgive myself if..."

"Exactly. Since the adventure took place in the Magic Box, the danger was completely controlled and any ill-effects easily undone. What happens out there," Mahaad's encompassing gesture indicated the rest of the world. "that is forever. It would be wise for both of you to remember that. What would be even wiser is for both of you to talk with one another more clearly when difficult situations arise. My pharaoh, you are not Yugi's pharaoh. You are not responsible for him as you were for all the people of Egypt. He has the right..."

"He has the right to his own life. I understand, Mahaad. Yugi, my impulse is to protect you. I don't think I'm strong enough to stop that. But, I will make certain we talk about things better, and I will listen to you, instead of making decisions for you. Will that be sufficient?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "Of course. I – it's not bad that you want to protect me, Yami, it's just I'm not a kid, and I am..."

"You are strong. Since you are very low-key about it, even I sometimes forget that." Yami grinned. "You don't mind if I want to help with the pain while your body heals, I hope."

"No, not as long as you don't try to take it all on yourself," Yugi replied.

"Partners?" Yami ventured.

Yugi smiled. "Always."

"Well, then. That is all I was after," Mahaad stated. "Of course, both of you are so thick-headed we couldn't just sit down and talk it out. The remedy had to be more drastic. No, I had to go and create an elaborate adventure..."

"It was a cool adventure," Yugi admitted. Yami just glared. "Come on, Yami. Admit it – you liked being the 'Lord of Blood and Shadows'."

"Harumph!"

Yugi turned to Mahaad. "He did, you know."

Mahaad nodded gravely, knowing that Yugi was perceptive enough to read the sparkle in his eyes. "To that end, both of you should know that the entire adventure took place here in the Magic Box. All of your duel monsters enjoyed helping with this adventure."

"Vialla, Celedor, Everon, Ashelocke – I realize it now!"

"But, Red-Eyes Black Dragon is in Joey's deck right now. And there's no Blue-Eyes in Yugi's deck," Yami realized.

"Daire, Joey's Red-Eyes, is a creature welcome in the Magic Box, since he spends time in Yugi's deck. Blue-Eyes..." A spasm that might have been pain crossed Mahaad's face. "Tekhenu, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon of your adventure, in part was based upon my memories of a dear, long-gone friend."

"That's right. Grandpa's deck did have a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. But, Mahaad, that means the Magic Box... It's been around longer than I thought – if Grandpa's Blue-Eyes lived here, once," Yugi realized softly.

"You are correct. I crafted the Magic Box shortly after I first became aware as the Dark Magician. Very long ago the permanent population was not as great. Recently, it has become the home for the Duel Monsters who dwell in your deck, Yugi. They seem to be drawn here ever since the game was re-created in its new form in modern times."

Yami's face assumed a crafty look. "'Fess up, Mahaad. Which role was yours?"

Mahaad smiled to have been caught out by his friend. "I _was _close to hand throughout your adventure, Yugi. I promised once that nothing would ever harm you in the Magic Box, but the adventure, in order to seem real, had to contain elements of real danger."

"But, I never saw..." Yugi looked up, as his intuition brought him a startling thought. "You – you weren't yourself, were you? None of yourselves were. You as the Dark Sage were the merman Water Sage," Mahaad smiled and nodded. "You were also Dark Magician's Knight as Yami's Purple Knight, and the Magician of Black Chaos as the giant final boss dragon-scary-weird-guy-villain-thing... and you..."

Yami watched, his gaze shifting almost comically from Yugi's face to Mahaad's during the whole exchange. "Wait a minute! So, when it was necessary to sacrifice the Purple Knight to free and awaken Curse of Dragon and the Shadow Sword – that was you? Not just the Dark Magician Knight, but actually _you_, Mahaad?"

Mahaad nodded. "Each time Yugi, or you, interacted with the Water Sage, the Purple Knight, or the Lord Dragon of Chaos – it was actually me. I had to make certain the adventure unfolded properly."

Yami fixed an unreadable gaze on his friend's face as he delved into his memories of himself as 'Lord Yami'. "In the adventure, in the personal history of the Lord of Shadows – his friend sacrificed himself to save his life and help him gain his power. After that, his friend had a different form. Mahaad... It's easy to see you were alluding to what has happened in our own pasts. Why?"

"In this world we now inhabit, some things are difficult to state outright. In the adventure, in the guise of a Guardian Knight, I found it easier to openly say to you what lives in my heart," Mahaad replied simply. "And the guilt you, as the Lord of Shadows, saw fit to take upon yourself, I have often wondered if you feel some level of guilt now for what happened to me."

"I... I regret..."

"Don't," Mahaad said simply. "While there was not some mystical sage telling me the manner of my death, I became the Dark Magician willingly, with open eyes, and full awareness of the consequences."

Yami looked away, but his attitude showed he wanted to argue.

"What am I going to do with him, Mahaad?" Yugi suddenly asked. "If this idiocy of his, assuming blame for things that aren't his fault, is as long-standing as that..." Yugi winked up at Mahaad.

"I don't know, young one." Mahaad contrived to look sorrowful as he shook his head. "I have surely tried. But, I am certain, if anyone can solve this puzzle of why he believes everything is his fault – it is you, Yugi."

"I don't know, Mahaad..." Yugi looked down toward the ground as if filled with regrets.

"Oh, knock if off, you two," Yami growled.

Yugi smiled that he and Mahaad managed to tease Yami out of his somber mood. There was still a lot of learning both he and Yami had to do to avoid serious misunderstandings leading to bad situations in the future, but it was a start. There was something oddly familiar about how 'right' this feeling was, and how he felt almost as if he'd earned someone's regard, or made someone proud by feeling this way. Unnoticed, his hand crept up to where the Millennium Puzzle usually rested against his chest. Though he was aware the Puzzle wasn't there, it felt more weird than that, as if something else was absent. Suddenly, it fell into place for him.

"You – _you_ – as the Dark Magician – were the Hero's Heartstone, weren't you?!" Yugi suddenly exclaimed.

Mahaad smiled down at him. "Of course. What better way to protect you from the necessary dangers of the adventure than to be with you, unrecognized, the entire time? As I assumed a completely inert form, I'm shocked you managed to figure it out, Yugi." Mahaad cupped his chin. "You took me by surprise when you attacked me as 'the Dread Lord of Blackness and Chaos' for not fighting you. It was a miscalculation on my part to not understand that you would do that if pushed too far, and a miscalculation to have actually pushed you that far. The Chaos Scepter Attack response was purely instinctive. It took a great deal of effort to not only focus and launch that mistaken attack as the Magician of Black Chaos, but then blunt and absorb it as the Dark Magician so that it wouldn't harm you. I'll know better next time."

"Next time?!" Yami exploded.

"Master! Our guests have woken up!" Mana's voice called brightly from the other side of the clearing.

"Thank you, Mana," Mahaad acknowledged.

"Guests?" Yugi echoed.

"There were others who helped you in your adventures, 'Hero'," Mahaad said.

"You brought _them_ here? How?" Yami demanded.

"Yugi was irked enough at you, my pharaoh, that he gave me considerable power. Perhaps he didn't realize it at the time, but I had to tap into the power of the Millennium Puzzle through him in order to eavesdrop on you in the hospital. I used that connection to bring all of your spirits here to the Magic Box. Not to worry. No one will notice the brief nap that Yugi, Joey, and Seto are taking in the hospital room while your spirits are here in the Magic Box."

Yami sputtered and looked up at Mahaad with an indescribable expression on his face. Yugi thought he might be trying to glare at the Dark Magician, but his shock ruined the effect. "Come on, 'Lord of Shadows'." Yugi teased. "I'm sure Joey is taking all this in stride, but Seto might be even more poleaxed than you."

– – – – –  
Author's notes

Some of the mystery is clearing up, but there's a bit more to go.

Next chapter teaser – A Matter of Marvels


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five – A Matter of Marvels**

Yugi was right, or at least he thought he was. Joey was in the midst of his monsters, seemingly at home chatting with Yugi's Flame Swordsman, Red Dark Magician, Mystical Elf, Celtic Guardian, and everyone else. Seto, on the other hand, had his arms crossed as he leaned up against a tree on the far edge of the gathering.

"Yugi!" Joey pounced on his diminutive friend and pounded him on the back. "This is so cool! Mind telling me what's goin' on and what I hafta do to be able to see the monsters of my deck?"

"Uhm..."

"We don't know." Yami crossed his arms and nodded up toward Mahaad. "It's his doing."

"Dark Magician?" Joey gulped. "Uhm, what – what is the... Er, why...?"

Mahaad smiled at the nervous young man. Joey didn't seem to be all that reassured. Mahaad sighed. "Allow me to explain." He made sure his voice was loud enough to carry to everyone, particularly the duelist on the edge who refused to join the group. He repeated the same explanation he had given to Yugi and Yami, that a serious break in communication between the two soul partners was creating distress for their monsters. He concluded by thanking Joey and Seto by name for their help, and apologized for not seeking permission for it beforehand.

"Oh, that's okay. Anything to help my friends. I had a lot of fun – well, for the most part – even though I wasn't really myself?" Joey confused himself trying to explain.

"I have a question, Mahaad," Yami spoke up suddenly. "My memories are clear and obviously my own, as Yami, Lord of Blood and Shadows, but they get hazy after Lord Timaeus appeared. Was that me? Or was that someone else? They almost seem like some sort of almost-lucid dream – those memories."

Mahaad nodded. "Exactly. It was, as so much of this adventure was, a matter of spirit sorcery. Your souls were made to sleep, but dream truly of the events, so that you would know what happened. Once the Legends were in play it was necessary for each of you, as Timaeus, Hermos, and Critias to look and act almost as one of Yugi's friends, but to play your part perfectly."

Akai stepped up and placed a companionable hand Yugi's shoulder. "The adventure had to take a very dark turn. It would have distressed Master Yugi too much if he believed it were actually you three. In the adventure, Yugi could not rely on anyone else when he confronted the Lord of Blackness and Chaos. But if he thought it were really you, his friends, who were in that sort of danger, or sacrificed to give him the power for that final confrontation, it could have broken the memory blocks in your spirits that allowed you to each have a role in the adventure in the first place."

Yugi nodded. "Yes, I think that would have been too much. So much of the adventure was already nearly too much." Akai grimaced down at him, squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, then lowered his arm back to his side.

"So, Hermos was me, but not really? How exactly did that work?" Joey demanded, planting himself in front of Akai.

Akai merely smiled. Evidently Joey found it easier to confront him than Mahaad, which was no surprise to the magicians themselves, given what had really happened. "Do you recall being in a dark place with talking lights?"

"Yeah, that freaked me out. I wasn't sure if everyone, me included, was a ghost."

"Spirits, but not ghosts," Akai replied serenely.

"How is that possible?"

"No one was dead. Ergo, not a ghost." Joey glared at him. "Well, if you recall, there was you, who was yellow, a purple globe of light, that was Mahaad, and..."

"So you were the red one, huh?" Joey guessed.

"Exactly. It's why the sword, which was really me, I had been your 'Red Knight', after all, and was 'sacrificed' to free the dragon and power up your sword," Akai winked at Joey. "had to be the first part of the ritual, so that I would arrive ahead of you and be ready to assume control."

"So, when Hermos was being such a jerk to Yugi..." Joey wondered aloud.

"That was me, following the script of the adventure. However, when Hermos was being a jerk to Seto, and then later, Critias, I leaned very heavily into the heart of what Joey Wheeler would do to know how to behave." Akai winked at him again.

"Good!" Joey stuck out his tongue at Seto, who stared at him as if he were bored out of his mind.

Yami and Yugi, watching along with everyone else, turned and looked up at Mahaad. "You!" Yami exclaimed.

The corner of Mahaad's eyes crinkled up with his smile. "Yes, me. You said that before, my pharaoh, when I sent your spirit to sleep and took direct control of your actions."

"So, Timaeus was you, acting like me?"

"To keep the adventure on point, Timaeus had to be rather callous toward Yugi, but flashes of you had to be evident, too. It was a task I was not willing to delegate to anyone else. Good thing, too. When the Point was destroyed I nearly lost control of the master spirit spell. If it had been anyone other than me controlling you, you would have wrest yourself free of the adventure and ruined it completely."

Seto watched from the sidelines, recalling his vivid dreams of being Critias, and wondered just which one of these monsters of Yugi's had taken the reins of his being, and control of his actions when he was forced to play-act as the True Lord. An involuntary shiver sped along his spine, but he refused to let it affect him.

He stalked over through the throng of Duel Monsters, and planted himself right in front of the purple Dark Magician.

"You took liberties with my person, magician. Something I won't soon forget – or forgive," Seto stated coldly.

"I was prepaid," Mahaad snapped back. "But, I will tell you this; the magic I used to transport your spirit here, and to insert your spirit into the adventure, had been crafted such that it would only work on those who feel guilty that Yugi was hurt. It could only affect you if you had some inner willingness to help Yugi." _And some intrinsic trust in me_, Mahaad added internally. That was a fact he would never mention to Seto's face.

Everyone looked at Seto at that. Yugi took a step toward him, a questioning look on his face. "Why would you feel guilty that I got hurt?"

Seto turned away. He started walking away, but tossed over his shoulder, "Yesterday, Kaiba Corporation acquired the condemned building that collapsed on you. If it had been properly demolished, you would not have been injured. For that reason, Kaiba Corporation will pay the full expenses for your recovery. I will stop by – each day – to make sure that once you are fully recovered, you are discharged from the hospital. I won't have you wasting my company's money, Motou."

Joey waited until he was certain Seto was out of earshot. "That is the _most_ lame-ass excuse I've ever heard."

Yugi smiled. Yeah, it was pretty lame-ass. He'd known for a long time that his relationship with the touchy C.E.O. was not the out-and-out rivalry everyone thought it was. Seto would mostly likely never admit it, but there were elements of friendship in his interactions. If it was becoming obvious enough that even Joey could see it...

"Don't tell him that, Joey."

"Aw, Yugi!"

"_Don't_ tease him about it, either!" Yugi warned. "I mean it, Joey!"

Joey looked into Yugi's adamant, serious eyes. "Yeah, and I bet if I don't listen, you'll sic your Dark Magician on me again."

Mahaad floated over and placed one hand casually on Yugi's shoulder. "It would be my pleasure."

Joey looked up into Mahaad's stern face, and groaned. "Fine. No teasing of the dragon. Got it."

"On that note, how would you like a ride on the back of your dragon?" Akai gestured for Red-Eyes Black Dragon to approach.

"He's – here? How?"

"Joey has the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in his deck right now," Yugi added.

Yami crossed his arms and nodded his chin at Mahaad. "I bet it's _his_ doing."

Mahaad smiled enigmatically. "The pharaoh is correct. The Red Eyes Black Dragon, whose card is welcome in either of your decks, is able to enter the Magic Box whenever he wants."

"I wish..." Joey interrupted himself, then rubbed at the back of his neck.

"What, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"This is so cool, Yuge. Bein' able to meet and talk with your monsters. I kinda wish I could do the same. Not your monsters, though." Joey suddenly looked up and realized his words could be construed as insulting by most of the audience around him. He splayed his hands in a gesture to negate his words. "Not that meetin' all of you isn't cool – it is! It's just I wish I could meet my monsters, too." Joey looked up at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon towering over the group, so he missed the exchange between Dark Magicians caught by Yugi's more attentive gaze. Akai smiled slightly and glanced with intent at Mahaad. Mahaad didn't smile, but he did nod, very slightly, once.

While Yugi pondered what all that meant, he felt a touch on his arm. He turned and focused on the person next to him. "Vialla!" He couldn't help it. He was so relieved to see her that he threw his arms around her waist (as high as he could reach and not get smacked for being fresh) and hugged her tight.

"Hello, Master Yugi," Vialla replied as she returned Yugi's embrace.

"I thought... I was so worried..."

A gentle, playful buffet on his arm gave him a reason to release his hold on the Mystical Elf before embarrassment could set in.

"No love for me?" Celedor teased.

Yugi grinned, then threw his arms around the waist of the startled Celtic Guardian. "Of course! I was worried about you, too!"

"It was all part of Mahaad's plan. Our part in the adventure was over and it seemed the best way. I'm just glad he came up with the Realm of Darkness instead of burying us in the ground!" Vialla shuddered in mock horror. "Did you like my death scene? In duels, when we're defeated, we just go 'poof' from the playing field and sit around in the graveyard. It's so droll. We never get to have an honest-to-goodness death scene. Mahaad kindly indulged my wish to enjoy one."

"It was very effective," Yugi replied, recalling the genuine sorrow he had felt as the Hero when Vialla and Celedor 'died'.

"I hope you aren't saddened by it now, since you know it was all make-believe," Vialla said.

Yugi smiled up at her. "I was sad, very much so. Vialla and Celedor, well, you guys in the adventure, were really good friends."

Another gentle, playful buffet landed on his shoulder. "Not just in the adventure!" Celedor growled.

"No, of course not!" Yugi grinned impudently up at the elven warrior.

"Ah, here comes another friend who wants to reassure you that he's actually alive and well, despite what happened to him before." Celedor gestured for Yugi to turn around.

_Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress?_ Yugi recognized the monster immediately and wondered before it clicked for him. "Charvron!" He latched onto the dragon's neck with yet another hug. "Of course! Guarding the fortress of the Aerie! I'm so glad you are okay!"

For a reply the dragon bugled softly, and whuffed Yugi's hair with his breath.

"Aw. He's pleased. Somewhat shy about his role in the adventure, but pleased that you are happy," Vialla told him.

"Sure wish I could speak 'dragon'," Yugi muttered.

Another bugle, still soft, but different in tone made Celedor smile. "He wants to know if you want to ride," Celedor told him. "Evidently, he's got permission to show you something."

"Would I!" Yugi looked up at the dragon's back and wondered if he was supposed to climb up the dragon's side like a tree. Celedor knelt and laced his fingers together in an offer to help. Only a moment later, Yugi settled himself on the dragon's back. Arms closed around his waist from behind.

"I'll ride along to translate," Vialla told him.

"We will meet you there!" Celedor called up from the ground.

"Meet us where?" Yugi asked.

"It's a surprise. Oh, look at Joey!"

Yugi looked where the Mystical Elf pointed to see Akai toss Joey up onto the Red-Eyes Black Dragon's back, before half-levitating himself up, too. Joey noticed Yugi watching, shot his friend a crooked smile, and pumped his arm above his head enthusiastically.

"Race ya!"

Yugi grinned. Red-Eyes was bigger and more powerful, especially in duel monsters, but that might not count in a speed race between dragons. "Can you take him?" Yugi asked Charvron in a low voice.

The soft but confident bugle didn't need Vialla's helpful translation, "Of course!"

"You're on!" Yugi called to Joey. Despite his happiness and wonder at what was happening, something suddenly felt a bit off. What was it? Oh. "Can Charvron carry another passenger?"

"I don't think he could manage it and win. Not to worry, though. Celedor and the rest will meet us there."

Yugi looked down toward the ground until he found the one he was concerned about. Yami stood a bit apart from everyone, and seemed to be smiling faintly at all the festive hub-bub. "Yami?" he called, uncertainty causing a waver in his voice.

"Go on ahead, Yugi. I think this is something of a cast party after a play." Unforced, genuine warmth lit Yami's smile. "I think you are in for a very big, very fun, surprise."

"Are you going to be there?"

"I think I will pass this time around. I've got something else I need to tend to. Why don't I see you off? So that the race starts out fair?" Yami offered.

Yugi nodded and Joey agreed. Moments later, both dragons lifted off at Yami's signal, winging their way to the destination each one was keeping a mystery from one of their riders.

"They are going to meet with the monsters of Joey's deck, aren't they?" Yami asked Celedor.

The Celtic Guardian smiled and nodded. "Us land-bound ones better hurry if we want to join the party. Will you be joining us?"

"No, thank you. You do know why Mahaad felt it necessary to make the adventure in the first place?"

Celedor nodded. "All of us were aware of the strain between you and Master Yugi."

"So, as much as I might want to hover, I have to break that habit. I know with you and the others of our deck, and the monsters of Joey's deck, that nothing bad could happen to Yugi. It's best if I stay here."

"We are your monsters, too, Master Yami," Celedor said carefully. "It is a celebration. You are welcome – just as Yugi is. He might have been the 'Hero' of the story, but 'Yami, Lord of Blood and Shadows' is one of the heroes of the story, too."

Yami chuckled. "I do appreciate that, and I might show up later. I think for now, it's best if Yugi gets to be the 'Hero' without me hovering, for a while longer."

Celedor nodded. "I believe Mahaad is staying behind for now. Maybe you can accompany him later."

Yami nodded. "Go. I don't want you to miss out on any of the fun."

– – – –  
Author's notes

Next chapter teaser – A Matter of Magic


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six – A Matter of Magic**

Yami waved Yugi on ahead, along with most of the monsters of their shared deck. He watched as Mahaad and Seto, an unlikely duo if ever there were one, walked off, and deliberately set off traveling in the other direction. He was admiring the way the sunlight slanted through the trees to lend an entirely natural sort of dappling in a clearing when he sensed he was being watched.

"I thought you might want to talk." Yami turned to face the newcomer as he spoke.

"I sought _you_ out thinking you might want to talk. To test me and confirm for yourself my allegiance and harmlessness where the young one is concerned." The Magician of Black Chaos stepped fully into the sunlight of the clearing.

Yami shook his head. "I have no concern in that regard."

"Oh?" The Magician of Black Chaos leaned on his staff and stared down into Yami's unbreaking gaze. "I see you don't." He shook his head. "I thought I sensed some distrust. Perhaps I was wrong."

"Perhaps. I don't distrust you. Certainly not where Yugi is concerned. I realize it was Yugi's unexpected action that provoked your attack. As you said, it took considerable effort to blunt it."

The Magician of Black Chaos looked confused. "I said...? Oh, I see. I suppose I did – in a way. Forgive me. I have not yet synchronized with Dark Magician since the adventure ended. I am not entirely up to speed with everything that has happened yet."

A look of concern flashed across Yami's face. "It has been – I guess that time as we know it is merely a convention followed for the convenience of all here in the Magic Box, but it has been long enough, certainly, for Mahaad to tend to that?"

"I haven't been able to find him. Rather, I haven't been able to find him alone for long enough. I am sure it is just an oversight."

Yami didn't share that certainty. He knew that Mahaad had almost immediately synchronized with the Dark Sage and Dark Magician Knight aspects of himself once the adventure finished and they'd returned to the Magic Box. He'd sensed the deepening of his friend's power when it occurred. He wondered if there might be a reason Mahaad had not synchronized with the Magician of Black Chaos yet.

"Chaos...?"

"Yes?"

Yami looked up into the wild appearance and even wilder eyes of his oldest friend in this guise. Mahaad was hard to see under the slightly mad eyes, spill of ebony hair, and overall rather frightening appearance, but he was there. "I..." Yami sensed something unsettling. Not from the aspect facing him, which surprised him. He knew that the Magician of Black Chaos hadn't intended to attack Yugi. He knew that Chaos had fulfilled his assigned role of villain to perfection, albeit in a rather unexpected way. Mahaad might have designed the adventure and given the roles to everyone, but evidently, Chaos had made part of it an unknown adventure for the core locus of who _he_ was, too. An eddy of unease stroked across Yami's soul. "If you, personally, as – as the Magician of Black Chaos – ever need anything, even, just to talk – you are welcome into my soul room – even as Mahaad is welcome. In as much as I am able to welcome anyone to the maze that is my soul, that is," Yami muttered.

The Magician of Black Chaos looked at him for a long moment, locking concerned gazes. "So, you sense it too. I thought it was your unease that I was feeling..." A sad, rueful smile crossed his face. "Thank you, my pharaoh, for the offer. I hope I will not have to take you up on it." He started to turn away. "Oh, just in case Mahaad doesn't, that is, I am not..." He shook his head, not wanting to articulate his fear, and thrust a hand toward Yami. The Millennium Puzzle, which Yami now recognized had served as the 'Pendant of Pharaoh' in the adventure, swung from the chain clasped in the Magician's hand. "Would you please return this to Yugi?"

"Surely that isn't the real Puzzle!" Yami exclaimed. "There's no way it could be safely contained here, within the Magic Box – is there?"

"It isn't the true Puzzle, but it is the aspect of the Puzzle that Yugi manifests within his heart whenever he is here. It wouldn't harm him, or you, if it weren't returned to him, as it is an object of pure spirit, but the necessity of recreating it would tax the young one's spiritual energy. After all he's been through, in the adventure, and the wounds he's suffered in the physical world..."

"Say no more. I will return it to him, and offer you my gratitude that you watch out for him as carefully as– as Mahaad himself would."

"And that surprises you?" the Magician of Black Chaos demanded.

"Not in the least. I could speak with him if..."

The Magician of Black Chaos shook his head. "If there is a feeling of distrust, it is a matter for myselves to tend to. Your attempt to help would only serve to muddy the issue and possibly create a new division."

Yami realized that he was talking with Mahaad, just as clearly as if he were talking with the Mahaad that most often appeared as the more humble Dark Magician. He didn't understand why Mahaad, as his Dark Magician self, didn't realize that there was really no difference at all – even as he understood precisely why Mahaad had crafted the Atelier, and the hidden inner sanctum to contain all these slightly different aspects of himself. It would be confusing for anyone, but especially the monsters of the deck who were less sophisticated, to understand what was going on when speaking with Mahaad under this different aspect.

"What happens to you, if there isn't... If he does not accept...?" Yami stopped, not entirely sure how to ask his question.

"I already feel bereft, cut off from myself, as it is. I knew that there were aspects of himself that he didn't like acknowledging in the reflection of him that I represent, but I didn't realize his animosity had deepened to the point of casting me out. I suppose that the separation that was necessary for me to be the effective villain in the adventure for you and Yugi was a revelation to him – even as it was for me. I admit there have been times I have chaffed at the restrictions he places on me, rather, on himself when he manifests _as_ me, and I have daydreamed about this very 'freedom' but now, after having been separated from myself for so long, I yearn for those very boundaries." The Magician of Black Chaos looked up, to catch Yami's compassionate expression. "It may be, that once things settle again, Mahaad welcomes me back into the brotherhood of self. Maybe he just needs some time to arrive at the same conclusion I did – I _am_ Mahaad, after all, just manifesting in a different way. If, by some remote chance, he doesn't accept me – I will exile myself, and wait for his call – for as long as I can."

Yami stared at him for a long moment with a tightly narrowed gaze. He might not have the training of a spirit sorcerer behind him as Mahaad, in all of his aspects, did, but he did have excellent and well-proven magical intuition. "If your exile goes on for too long, and you should start to– to fade away, I command you, by the power of our friendship – Mahaad – to seek me out in my soul room. I believe in you. That should be enough to give you the refuge you need, if the unthinkable comes to pass."

The Magician of Black Chaos stared blankly at him, startled. "I had not thought you would realize how potentially dire this is." He shook his head ruefully. "I should not have underestimated your understanding. By the power of your friendship, I will heed your command, but there is a hidden danger in your offer. If it comes to that, we will discuss this again. For your sake, my friend, I hope Mahaad sees reason and that outcome does not come to pass. For now, by your leave, I will bid you fare well."

Yami found himself nodding. The Magician of Black Chaos' courtly formality was oddly familiar, teasing at his memory for a long moment. "Fare well, for now," he replied. Chaos bowed his head, crossed his arms over his chest and deepened his bow in another gesture that was maddeningly familiar, before he stepped back into the shadows of the trees and disappeared from sight.

Yami sighed. "I sense no good can come of this."

– – – – –  
Author's note –

Next (and last) chapter teaser – A Matter of Magnitude


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven – A Matter of Magnitude**

"It's easy to infer that you have questions to ask," Mahaad said. "While Yugi, Joey, and most of the monsters of the Magic Box are away, this would be the best time for a conversation."

Seto stared at the tall duel monster for a long moment. He seemed to be waging some war within himself. Mahaad suspected that while Seto had many questions for him, the Dragon Duelist might be less than confident he wanted to hear the answers.

"How – did it work?" Seto was indeed wearing an aspect he'd never seen from the young man before. He was unsure.

"How did what work?"

Seto snapped a cold glare into Mahaad's face. "Forcing me to play my part in your little adventure."

"Magic." Mahaad shrugged. At Seto's stare he continued. "I am a spirit sorcerer. Given the proper power, I have the ability to–"

"Manipulate spirits? Is that the term you are trying to avoid? Is that what you did to us – to me?" Seto demanded.

"Yes. Manipulate is the proper term. I did manipulate you, all of you, for my purposes."

"So, when I was – tolerating Joey, and – befriending Yugi that was..." Seto began.

"That was _you_, Seto. I manipulated your memory, but not your heart. Think of it this way: if I set down a boundary on your left side, two feet away from you, and a similar boundary on your right, you could only move forward and backward along the narrow path, correct? Now, if I were to set some annoying thing behind you, you would be most likely to move forward, along the path I designed. You could stand still and endure the annoyance, or you could move forward in the way I wanted. The actions you took along that admittedly narrow path were your own, completely free, and of your own will."

Seto still stared at Mahaad's face, but with markedly less hostility.

"That is what I did for Joey, Yami, and Yugi. In your case, instead of proscribing boundaries, I eased them," Mahaad told him.

"What do you mean?"

"There are boundaries within you, set in place by your own experiences. I've been aware of them for a long time, and – they grieve me. Not only because they have caused trouble and heartache for Yugi, and Yami – but..." Mahaad shook his head. "It is hard to see someone with such promise hemmed in to such a narrow path. It is one reason Yami was so harsh with you after that first duel. Remember, in my adventure, you were named 'Seto' and never once called 'Kaiba'. Without the bitterness of your memories and past, you were able to act more in tune with your heart."

Seto lifted a skeptical eyebrow.

"Believe it, or not, as you wish. However, it is one reason I did as I did, and 'took liberties' with your spirit. Talk is cheap, as the saying goes. Experiencing something first-hand has more power than any thousand words I could utter."

"I suppose I should thank you for sparing me a tedious friendship speech," Seto noted wryly.

"I have observed that they never work on you. For trespassing upon your soul, without permission, you have my deepest apologies. If you wish, I could seal the memories of the events away from you..."

"NO!"

Mahaad carefully did not smile at Seto's instinctive and immediate rejection of the idea.

"You've tampered with my memories enough, magician."

Mahaad nodded, acknowledging the admonishment. "If my actions were not part of ma'at, rest assured, I will be held accountable for them."

Seto nearly snorted. "Not good enough, magician. I am the one you've offended. I'm not about to let some god or universal mandate balance the score between us."

"Was it really so awful, Seto?" Sadness softened Mahaad's tone. "I did not construct your role, any of the roles for that matter, to denigrate or embarrass anyone. I thought – to be Lord of Dragons – to have the abilities I gave you in the adventure might in some way make up for any ill-will you might feel. It is true I constructed that adventure mostly for Yami and Yugi's benefit, but I intended for both you and Joey to gain from it too – in gratitude for unwittingly helping me."

Seto stared at the ground for many long moments after that. When he looked up, there was a curious vulnerability stamped on his face. He shook his head, and his usual faintly superior cold mask slid back into place. "I might be inclined to – forget, given that you did not intend to harm me. Just don't ever do anything like that again," he warned.

"So, you've no wish to be Seto, Lord of Ice and Dragons, in the future?" Mahaad asked lightly.

The immediate, involuntary gleam of nearly child-like delight in Seto's eyes made Mahaad smirk. He gentled it into a smile, but not before Seto caught his initial expression. _Truly it is interesting to watch the war within this young man's spirit,_ Mahaad thought to himself. _He wants to be cold and analytical in all things, but there is this stunted child within him who never had a proper chance to play. Of course, if I put it that way, he will never..._

"Must I lose my memory of who I really am, in order to be Lord Seto, again?" Seto asked in a low, nearly inaudible, voice.

Mahaad regarded him for a long, taut, moment. "Regrettably, yes. All of you 'Lords' would. Your interactions with both Yami and Joey, and theirs toward each other, and you, would prevent any of you from truly enjoying any adventure I could craft otherwise. Each of you would have to leave the shackles of your real world memories behind."

"But..."

Mahaad waited. He sensed what Seto wanted to ask. If he managed to find the fortitude to actually ask it, there was hope that his adventure had perhaps started a tiny spark of something very positive in this man's soul – where so many of his life experiences had been anything but positive.

"I would – remember – afterward? Everything that I did – as Lord Seto – I would not lose those memories...?"

"How could this be any help if you do not recall who you are while play-acting, and then don't recall the details of the game when your memory is functioning properly? Why play a game you can't recall? It makes no sense. While much of what I do might be inscrutable to you, my young friend, I assure you, I always make sense."

"A game...?" Now the gleam was back in Seto's eyes, and what seemed to be a smile shadowed across his lips.

"Yes. A most –immersive– role playing game – would you not agree?" Mahaad let his smirk free to spread across his face.

"I will have to think about this," Seto said.

Mahaad nodded.

"There is one other matter I wanted to ask about."

"Yes?"

"When, in the adventure, Yugi lost the Kindly Lords to gain the True Lords... That Red Dark Magician controlled Wheeler's actions, and you evidently were in control of Yami's..."

Mahaad waited.

"You are going to make me ask, aren't you?" Seto demanded peevishly.

Mahaad smirked and nodded.

"Who was – in control – of me? Was it one of the other aspects of you?"

Mahaad was not surprised that Seto had sensed the nature of his many-faceted reality, and was able to mentally reconcile that Mahaad had more than one aspect without the difficulty that most others struggled with. "I assure you, Dragon Duelist, that thought is as uncomfortable to me as it is to you. No. I detailed another, one I held a great deal of trust in, to that monumental task."

Seto glared.

"Do you want to know? Yugi's deck holds a secret you might be interested in."

"I doubt that." Seto crossed his arms and sneered on general principle. "But as it seems it's just us, and I suppose I can't leave here until you release me, you might as well show me whatever little secret you think might interest me."

Mahaad bowed in a highly mocking fashion, then started to lead the way. It took quite a bit of 'time' to travel to their destination. Seto wondered at the changes around him as the friendly aspect of the Magic Box started to give way to something that looked more and more like the Shadow Realm. The Dark Magician finally paused, moved aside a concealing branch, and pointed.

"But, that's the Aerie!" Seto exclaimed.

"Yes. But it is the real Aerie, not the construct created for Yugi's adventure," Mahaad told him.

Seto looked up at the massive edifice. It was unmistakably the Aerie of the adventure, and his heart lifted in a weird sort of pride in ownership at the very sight of it. But, as he took in the details, he realized this Aerie, unlike the one he, as Lord Seto, had owned, was in a state of shocking disrepair. It looked as though an earthquake had struck directly beneath it, and split the edifice into two. All along the damaged margins of the structure chunks of stone and mortar had eroded, bearing mute witness to the ongoing nature of the destruction. "Why is it so damaged? What happened and why hasn't it been repaired?"

While facing the Aerie, Mahaad began to speak. "In the very early days of the Magic Box, a powerful creature of Light had shared in the companionship of myself and the other monsters. As the monster himself had been a token of deep friendship, he had been welcomed in the Dark-powered Magic Box, and he and I became friends. We combined our powers, Darkness and Light, to create this sanctuary where he, a creature of Light, would be able to dwell in comfort, despite the overall Dark alignment of the rest of the deck. During that time, we were rarely called upon to manifest in duels, content to dwell in peace."

Mahaad stared at the ruins of the Aerie, but his gaze was unfocused. Though his voice remained even and light, its lack of any inflection bespoke of deeply-held pain.

"After my friend had been defeated in a rare duel, I myself had been unable to withstand the attacks of two Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Though my duelist was quite skilled, his desire to win was tempered with an intent too gentle to triumph over his adversary. The spiritual fabric of the Magic Box shuddered when the unthinkable happened. The most powerful creature of Light, my friend, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon who at one time lived in amity in Solomon Motou's deck, was suddenly, shockingly, utterly destroyed after that pivotal duel had been lost."

Mahaad turned and faced Seto directly. There was no smirk or teasing in his manner. Though his featured betrayed no emotion, somehow Seto was able to sense the deep anguish in the spirit of the duel monster before him.

"Tekhenu, one of the Four Pillars of the Shadow Realm, died that day. Yugi's grandfather cherishes the damaged card as the token of friendship that it has always symbolized, even to this day. Though he is no longer my duelist, my heart resonates with him in this matter deeply enough that I have been able, in the spirit of that same friendship, to help sustain a remnant of the soul of my friend in the ruined Aerie."

Seto stared at Mahaad with grudgingly deepening respect for his resolve and power, even while ruthlessly pushing aside the guilt that tried to creep into his heart that he had caused this pain.

"Despite my efforts, the Aerie is crumbling into ruin. Each time more of it falls, my contact with Tekhenu lessens. I fear what will happen to the Shadow Realm the day the Aerie falls completely. The Magic Box, for all of my power, cannot support one fourth of the Shadow Realm as Tekhenu has been able to – even in his weakened state."

Mahaad took a deep, centering breath, and smiled sadly at Seto. "So, the Guardian I created for Lord Seto in the adventure had been something of a gift for my friend. The spirit spell creating the adventure affected the entire Magic Box, so it affected even him. He was able to assume the persona created for him, and leave the Aerie, perhaps for the last time. The White Knight, then later the Blue-Eyes White Dragon of the Lord of Ice and Dragons, was Tekhenu's soul, freed from the crumbling Aerie, manifesting as that character to help me with the adventure. It was Tekhenu, him alone, who I trusted enough to guide the actions of Lord Critias in the adventure. Your actions were controlled by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon you never knew."

Seto's awareness turned inward at this revelation, and he delved into the lucid dream-like, almost-memories of himself as 'Lord Critias'. First and foremost among those feelings was a gentle regret centered on Yugi, and a longing that things had been different. There had been a restrained sort of delight that he was free, at long last, to move and interact with others. Finally, there was a sense of regret that somehow centered on him, Seto Kaiba. Seto had never given the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon any thought after he tore up the card. The relief that he felt that his favorite duel monster could never, ever be used against him – that he would never have to regard his favorite monster as merely a target for destruction as he held every playable Blue-Eyes White Dragon card in existence – had been short-lived. Yami had shattered his soul for his ruthless actions, and recovering from the Mind Crush had become not only Seto's first priority, but his only reality. After that recovery, such things as ensuring he would never have to destroy a Blue-Eyes White Dragon as if it were a common enemy monster just didn't seem to be very important, anymore. Never had he imagined any of this – that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon he destroyed had possessed will and spirit, or that it had been friends with anyone, much less Yugi's Dark Magician, or that it had hovered about in the Magic Box as some sort of not-quite dead ghost of itself...

"Well, it's a nice fairy-tale, magician," Seto said aloud. "Of course, I find I have to take your word for it as there is no way to authenticate the veracity of what you claim, and even you should know by now that I'm not that gullible."

Mahaad stared at Seto long enough that even Seto couldn't maintain his gaze, and lowered his eyes. "Ma'at brings all things into balance," Mahaad warned softly. "You should take care, Seto Kaiba, that the hand of ma'at not smite you for your actions."

Seto grinned mirthlessly at the spellcaster. "If I won't rely on ma'at to balance the score between us, what makes you think I'd be concerned about the fallout from your oh-so-tragic story of friendship lost?"

Before Mahaad could form a thought to voice a retort, horrendous pandemonium turned their attention away from the conversation and back to the Aerie again. A wave of pure force flung Seto to the ground onto his back. His view of the world canted abruptly, and he found himself staring up into the sky that was a disturbing blend of the 'normal' Magic Box and the weird, restless energy ebb and flow of the Shadow Realm welkin. Before his mind fully comprehended that, his attention was suddenly commanded by giant pieces of soaring marble and granite, large enough to crush him several times over and drive his body deep enough no further burial would be necessary as they slowed in their ascent, seemed to curve and take aim, and descend toward him at a rapidly increasing rate.

_Crushed by a building – really? Me? How banal an end,_ Seto thought to himself. _Though that end is coming here in this magic-ridden place. I guess that's something – not that anyone would ever know that. How is it something that is happening so fast I can't avoid it is giving me so much time to ponder its outcome? Is this what Yugi went through when my building collapsed on him? Of course, the building falling on _me_ has to be a larger than life mystical structure designed for a dragon. I don't think there's any way I'm walking away from this – heck, I don't think they'll be able to find anything of me under all this rubble when it finally crashes down. Oh, Mokuba..._

Seto got no further in his defeated and dire ruminations before an enormous translucent purple dome of pure magic sprang up around him. Under its arc, Mahaad matter-of-factly reached a hand down to help him regain his feet. Remnants of the Aerie rained down like stone hail upon the protective dome of magic and slid along it to the ground. After the debris settled, Mahaad dismissed his magic shield with an impatient gesture and walked toward the main bulk of the rubble that had settled back on the ground in the spot where the Aerie had stood. Ominous creakings and smaller random crashes occurred throughout the massive pile as what was left of the Aerie kept settling into this new form after its destruction.

"I can no longer sense even the smallest remnant of my friend's spirit," Mahaad reported sadly. "I know not what happens to duel monster spirits when they die – such a thing has not happened since I became such a spirit myself. All I know for certain is that, on this plane, Tekhenu is no more." Mahaad shook his head. "I only hope the Shadow Realm survives his loss."

Seto merely stared at the total ruination of the Aerie and wondered at the deep sense of bereavement _he_ felt at the loss. No other words were exchanged as Mahaad turned from the wreckage and silently led the way back to the center of the Magic Box.

* * *

Yugi was glad Seto was easy to find when he returned to the Magic Box. He'd helped Vialla sluice water over Charvron's sides and wings and offered to help scrub the dragon's hide after they returned from their field trip, but the Mystical Elf pointed out delicately that she had a bit better reach than he did, and she was used to helping the Winged Dragon cool down and clean up after long flights. Yugi knew it would be a while longer before Joey and the rest of the monsters trekked back – unlike the race to Joey's deck, which he'd won fair and square, his monsters were doing their best to hinder Joey and the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the return race. Grateful for their unexpected and unasked for interference, Yugi figured he'd have a few minutes to figure out what was going on with Seto before everyone returned.

"Ah, Seto?"

"Yes?" Seto's reply was terse and impatient – as if he were at the end of his ability to bear weirdness.

"I don't blame... That is, it's not reasonable to expect that Kaibacorp would have destroyed a building it had just acquired in less than twenty-four hours," Yugi said as a way to try to let Seto know he didn't blame Kaiba Corporation's C.E.O. for his misadventure with the condemned building.

"You're saying I'm not reasonable, Motou?" Seto slid his gaze over to Yugi. Yugi's eyes widened as he realized that Seto's expression wasn't the glare he was expecting. Seto snorted. "I know you don't blame me or my company. Legally, you were trespassing, and I'm sure I will have to argue down my lawyers for assuming any sort of financial responsibility for your recovery. Still, I need you in good health, Yugi."

"So you can beat me in a duel, huh?" Yugi ventured.

"Of course." Seto assayed a wink. "What other reason could there be?"

"What indeed," Yugi mused as if to himself. "'Lord Seto'?" he teased.

"I will admit, to you alone, and don't share this with that wretched spirit you somehow saddled yourself with, Motou, that there were parts of the adventure that were – amazingly fun. Who would have thought your magician had it in him?" Seto shocked Yugi with his almost companionable attitude.

"I would!" Yugi averred.

"Yeah, you would. If ever..." Seto shook his head. "No. Look, perhaps time, or our perception of it flows differently here, but I would really appreciate it if you could reign in your monster and command him to return us to the real world. I have real work to do."

"YUGI!" Joey bellowed from the back of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon who was even now spiraling down for a landing. "That wasn't fair! Your monsters deliberately got in the way! I demand a rematch!"

Seto winced. "If I don't get out of here soon, I might have to strangle Wheeler."

Yugi laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Just on the other side of a copse of trees, Mahaad, while gathering the composure and mystic strength he would need to release the guest spirits he'd compelled to the Magic Box in the first place, stiffened as another presence impinged upon his aura. He tried to sublimate his concentration beyond the distraction. After a few minutes, he realized he would have to deal with this matter first, so he made his way unnoticed through the loud and happy crowd of three duelists and throng of monsters clustered near the Atelier. He entered the inner sanctum where the advanced forms of the Dark Magician gathered.

Dark Knight, with a more vibrant than usual awareness in his eyes, smiled as he entered. Dark Sage, likewise more interactive than usual nodded gravely toward him. The Magician of Black Chaos stood in the center of the inner room, and turned toward Mahaad as the Dark Magician entered.

"You summoned me?" Mahaad demanded in a cool and forbidding tone.

"Strongly invited," The Magician of Black Chaos countered lightly.

"Close enough. What do you want?" Mahaad stared reprovingly at the Magician of Black Chaos.

"It seems as if now is as good a time as any to resolve any divisions between us." A hint of a smile cross the Chaos Magician's face. "Something of an after-mission briefing, as it were? To facilitate the synchronization?"

"There is no need," Mahaad said.

"I see. You don't trust me?"

"Should I? You went wildly off-script from the very start. When you destroyed the Point the entire adventure nearly ripped apart." Now Mahaad's voice held a note of disdain.

"I knew it wouldn't. Rather, I knew you wouldn't let it. Didn't you feel that the young one was ready? Didn't you sense his growing anguish? Perhaps the adventure didn't end in the completely elegant way you designed, but it ended well, and in a timely way. Before the young one traded one problem for another," the Magician of Chaos explained.

"True enough." Mahaad nodded fractionally. "Nevertheless, it is – uncomfortable to allow you to fully synchronize. You are different enough from me that it must be as uncomfortable for you as it is for me."

The Magician of Chaos shook his head sadly. "There is no 'you' or 'me' between us. I am merely a different aspect of you, even as all our 'brethren' assembled here are. The only differences between us are in your perception of me – or rather, of _yourself_ when you manifest as me."

Mahaad crossed his arms and turned away. "There is no need for us to have any further discussion on this matter."

The Magician of Black Chaos nodded sadly. "It is as I feared. For your comfort, even though it means my increased discomfort, be it as you will. I only hope you come to accept that I _am_ you – albeit a more unrestrained version of you – before it is too late. I will remove my objectionable presence, for now. Summon me when –" Chaos laughed softly. "Summon me whenever you wish whether for acknowledgment and completion of the unity between us once more – or even just to talk. I will accept my banishment without complaint."

The Magician of Chaos faded from the Atelier. Mahaad stared at the space for a moment with an indescribably irritated look. "It is high time this comes to an end and everything returns to normal." He turned and left the inner room, exiting from the Atelier as well.

Yami seemed to be the only one who noticed when Mahaad returned from his visit to the Atelier. Though he didn't shout, Mahaad's voice carried across the raucous hum of the many conversations. "Everyone, say your good-byes. The adventure is long over." Yami seemed to frown as Mahaad's clipped attitude and nearly chiding manner proved to be a wet blanket abruptly silencing everyone.

Undaunted, Yugi approached his favorite duel monster. "Mahaad, nothing bad happened, right? Everyone is happy and having fun, surely there's no need to just stop the party!"

Mahaad couldn't help but smile at Yugi. If things had been quite different, and Seto had been his duelist that he had yanked from the real world to force to play an adventure, there's no way Seto would be addressing him in so friendly a manner afterward. Even Joey, as easy-going as he is, wouldn't be friendly again so soon. Only Yugi had the right combination of understanding and forgiveness to accept the lesson of the adventure without being bent out of shape over it. "Nothing bad has happened. It is just maintaining the spirit magic that holds non-duel monster entities safely in the Magic Box taxes my magic."

"Oh! I hadn't even thought of that. Good-bye, for now, Mahaad, I'm sure we will see you soon, either in a visit another time, or in the soul rooms, or in a duel. Come on, Yami, it's time to go. Joey, Seto, hurry up so we can leave. Vialla, Shelleene, Celedor, Akai, everyone, I'm sorry, but we really do have to go. Thank you, so much, everyone for helping with the adventure. I loved it; it was the most awesome thing I've ever done, well, except for solving the Puzzle, and that other thing, oh, dear... Well, it's one of the most awesome things I've ever done! It's too bad we can't do something like that again, all of us in the same story – I really liked being the Hero, even though I don't think I ever really got the hang of what that means at all. Come on, Yami, we've got to go before Mahaad hurts himself trying to keep our souls here," Yugi babbled almost too fast to follow before Yami strode over and casually placed his hand over Yugi's mouth to stop the flow of words.

"I take it now would be the ideal time to let your spell drop and allow our spirits to return to the real world?" Yami asked.

"I am nowhere near taxed to my limit to maintain the spell, but it seems as if the reason for casting it in the first place has been more than satisfied," Mahaad replied.

"As far as I'm concerned, magician, it's far past time for this nonsense to be over, so hurry up and do whatever you need to do for me to get out of this insane place and get back to the real world." Seto punctuated his statement with a glare. After the slightest pause he placed his hands on his hips and demanded, "Well?"

Joey had just started bristling in reaction and his mouth fell open to say something undoubtedly insulting when all four of them faded into soft black and purple sparkles which quickly dissipated.

* * *

The soft blackness parted, and Yugi winced. He could sense that Yami was right there, doing his level best to take on as much of the pain that he could. Yugi could almost feel Yami's wish to trade places, to accept all the pain as he'd done before, but true to the lesson of the adventure he didn't force Yugi to switch with him. Yugi scrunched his eyes as tight as he could, aware that there was an increase in the tenderness around his face, but needing the action to help him master enough of the pain to even think of opening his eyes and assessing the situation. He'd never hurt this much in his life. The pain was sharp and jagged, and seemingly riddled throughout his entire body deep enough that he couldn't spare the mental energy to direct actual thoughts toward his partner. After a long moment, an infinitesimal easing of the agony permitted him to open his eyes.

Joey was seated in a chair at the foot of his hospital bed, slumped over onto the bed next to where Yugi's feet were covered by a light blanket. Seto, his arms crossed, leaned up against the wall, with his head dropped down toward his chest. _Seto fell asleep standing up!_ Yugi thought knowing his connection through the Millennium Puzzle would transmit the image perfectly to Yami.

_That is the most absurd thing I've seen in a long time,_ Yami returned. Yugi could almost feel the smile in Yami's mental voice.

_It is pretty silly, isn't it? It's too bad we don't have a camera. _The thought of the expression on Seto's face if Yugi were to show him that picture made him laugh.

Joey and Seto woke immediately at the sound. Joey fussed at his return to normal consciousness, trying to get his hair out of his face and ease some feeling into an arm that had fallen asleep with a pinched nerve in his awkward position, or that is what Yugi gathered from Joey's mutterings and half curses. Seto merely stood up straight and pinned Yugi with a hard, unreadable look. His gaze flicked over to a point above Yugi's head, then back down into his eyes.

"Recover as quickly as you can, Motou," Seto actually smiled slightly as he completed his command. "to minimize the impact you are having on Kaiba Corporation. Don't waste my money." His smile dropping, Seto turned and stalked out of the hospital room.

"Wow. He really is the most lame-ass friend of all time. I don't know what you see in that guy, Yuge. Get better, quick. I'll see ya later!" Joey said all in a rush, then started to dash out of the door.

"W-wait! What?" Yugi stammered.

Joey turned and grinned at him. "You know how it is, Yugi. If I hurry, I can catch Moneypants at the elevator and fuss at him on the way down. If I play my cards right, I might even score a ride from him an' get to tease him about Ice and Dragons while hooking a ride home. Saves me the bus fare."

"Yeah, you do that. See ya, Joey!"

Yugi grimaced in pain once his friend was out of sight and raised his hand to his aching head. His touch encountered bandages. More bandages wrapped around his right hand, securing a splint in place. The clear plastic tubing of an intravenous line snaked out from under the bandages as well. The pain from that part of his body spiked even higher when he gingerly pressed with his left hand.

_"Yugi, stop it,"_ Yami advised from within.

_"Yeah, you're right. Wow – everything hurts!"_

_"Hmm."_ Yami replied. _"Would you mind meeting me in the corridor?"_

_"You're not about to try to lock me in again, are you? No,"_ Yugi answered his own question. _"you might be hard-headed, but you aren't stupid."_ He closed his eyes, and made the mental twist that allowed his consciousness to share the corridor between soul rooms with his partner.

"You've been through a lot today. Why not let me take over for a while, so you can get some rest?" Yami suggested as Yugi opened his eyes. "I promise I'll switch with you as soon as you ask, and I won't try to lock you in your soul room ever again."

"But the pain is really bad. You shouldn't..."

"Please, aibou?"

Yugi didn't want to, but Yami asked for things so very rarely, and he couldn't say no. Yami sensed his agreement. "Don't worry. I've got a few meditation techniques a certain spirit sorcerer taught me years ago that should definitely help master the pain. After you've rested a bit, I could try my best to teach some of them to you. Besides, it's nearly time for the nurse to come in and give you something that makes the pain ease up and your head go spinny for a while, anyway. I've been letting your body just go to sleep when that happens, and going to my own soul room, since I don't much like being dizzy, but of course, it's up to you what you want to do."

"Recovering from this is going to be tedious, isn't it? How badly was I hurt?"

"Let's see; you've got fourteen stitches in your leg and bandages pretty much everywhere. From what the doctor said to Grandpa when he visited earlier, if I remember them all, you've got a concussion, sprained wrist, wrenched back, twisted ankle, a gash on one thigh, two black eyes, a cut lip, and various deep bruises, minor abrasions, and small cuts all over your body. No internal damage, no broken bones – nothing that won't heal given care and time. Once the doctors are sure your concussion is resolving properly, and they've gotten enough antibiotics into you that you aren't going to get an infection, you'll be discharged. They think it will be a few more days."

"Yami," Yugi was struck by a sudden thought. "How long has it been? It seemed as though weeks passed in the adventure."

"Mahaad is a master of spirit sorcery, and time must flow differently in the Magic Box. I think it even flows differently here, in this corridor and our soul rooms. It's been less than a day since the accident. While you were locked... Uhm, that is, while you weren't fully aware of the outside world, the doctors ran tests, stitched up your leg, and other very tedious sorts of things; Grandpa visited; nurses fussed about taking blood and ticking things off in charts; Tristan stopped by for a moment on his way to work, and then Joey and Seto showed up. Believe me, aibou, you didn't miss anything."

"You still shouldn't take all the pain to yourself, Yami," Yugi noted softly.

"I won't. I know better, now. Still, I have to admire Mahaad's remedy for showing me the error of my ways. You make a very effective hero, Yugi. It's really too bad we can't do that again."

"Oh, I've got a feeling I haven't seen the last of the Lord of Blood and Shadows, the Water Sage, or any of them," Yugi replied lightly. "Mahaad had too much fun to not want to do that again, and all the monsters of our deck liked helping him." Yugi grinned at the flabbergasted expression on Yami's face. "It makes sense. He's got to do everything we tell him to do within the game of Duel Monsters, but I think Mahaad likes being the game master and running the show. I'm pretty sure we're going to find ourselves adventurers in the Magic Box world again, at some point."

"We can't let him..." Yami started.

"Aw, what's the harm? It took practically no time at all, the monsters enjoyed it, and it was fun!"

Yami sighed. "It might have been fun for you, but..."

"It was fun for you, too, Yami, and you know it!"

Yami crooked a grin his way. "Yeah, it was fun. I hope I get to be Lord Yami instead of Lord Timaeus, though. He was such a jerk to you!"

"Only because the adventure called for him to be a jerk. I bet he gets to be nicer next time..."

"Next time..." Yami added thoughtfully.

**Epilogue**

"I am never going to learn this spell, Master!" The gentle sunlight of the Magic Box, the playful breeze wafting the scent of flowers past her face, and the confident expression in her teacher's eyes did nothing to ease Mana's frustration.

"You are fully capable of learning and properly casting this magic, Mana," Mahaad reassured her.

"But it's so hard!"

Mahaad tapped a finger against his lips and regarded his pupil. "There is no need to continue your education in this, if you no longer wish to pursue mastery of spirit sorcery. Your proficiency in Dark Magic granted to you through the game of Duel Monsters..." he began.

"No – I want to learn. I don't want to simply rely on the magic the game gives me automatically. It's – lazy."

Pleased with her decision, Mahaad continued. "Well, then, the next step is to master double weave magic spells." Mahaad smiled kindly at his pupil. "It is, as so many skills worth learning are, only difficult until you learn how. While you shape one part of the spell with the words, you weave the other part into the incantation with arcane gestures. Adeptness with multi-weave spells, which contain two or more mystic components working in harmony to craft a single spell, is the true power of spirit sorcery – and it is very hard to defend against."

"O-okay. would you please show me the gestures again?" Mana watched her master's graceful hands as they slowly moved through the mystic passes carefully, trying to lock them into her memory.

~end~

– – – – –  
Author's note –

I never expected _The Remedy_ to gain the scope it did, or to take so long to finish. There are a few distinct story arcs that evolved within this story that were too big to try to contain within it. I didn't want to lose sight of the core of this story – that the friction between Yugi and Yami had to be eased somehow, and Mahaad took it upon himself (with many assists from his friends in the Magic Box and the two guests he conscripted into service) to tend to it. The two main tensions that remain as this story ends – between the Dark Magician (or 'main') aspect of Mahaad, and the Magician of Black Chaos aspect; and the tension created within Seto in regards to how his direct actions destroyed the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon when he tore the card (and the notion in this fic-verse that the four BEWDs each support one fourth of the Shadow Realm) will, hopefully, grow into their own, distinct stories. Before that, though, this writer needs a remedy herself after all the angst and drama of _The Remedy_, and the best remedy I know for too much angst is crackfic. Be on the lookout for _Plushi-oh!_


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